


Young Lions

by Zaylo



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Alien Planet, Animal Transformation, Anxiety, Biting, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Clawing, Claws, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Fighting, Fluff and Angst, Hinted Klance - Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, Lions, Major Character Injury, Mild Language, Old Gods, Panic Attacks, Roaring, Romance, Self-Doubt, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Space Mom Allura (Voltron), Teeth, Third Wheels, Wings, Yelling, basically fursonas, dragon - Freeform, lion hunk, lion keith, lion lance, lion pidge, lion shiro, mild gay, mutual idiots, shallura - Freeform, travelling, winged lion, winged shiro
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-24
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2018-12-19 07:42:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 49
Words: 55,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11893131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zaylo/pseuds/Zaylo
Summary: In a series of unfortunate events, the paladins of Voltron end up becoming beasts, monsters. But who said monsters couldn't be fluffy and cuddly? On a strange planet the 5 young heroes are transformed into lions and they must pass through many challenges to return to normal, and they learn something new about themselves along the way.





	1. Mission Fail

"Ok, so think, the word Paladin technically means knight, right?" Lance asked, voice fuzzy through Pidges headset. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"Yes, technically it does." Pidge replied. Lance let out a thoughtful hum. Pidge swore she could hear Keith grunt through her helmet and almost felt Shiro's eyes roll despite him not being there.

"Ok, good. I have a cool knight name picked out for me." The brunette replied. "My knight name, is Sir Lancelot!" A thud could be heard over the comm system as Keith let out an angered noise and slammed his head forward onto the control board of his lion.

The five Paladins had received a distress call from a strange, uninhabited planet and decided to investigate. When they arrive they found the planet full of vegetation, but strangely no intelligent life. No animals, no people, no civilization, nothing. Nothing but plants and water. As of now they were simply flying around in their lions while Coran and Allura stayed at the castle to track the signal.

"My god are we almost there yet?" Keith asked.

"Almost. The signal seems to be coming from just up ahead." Pidge replied. 

"Good because i'm starting to get hungry, and some of these trees here seem to have some tasty looking fruit." Hunk stated. Pidge let out a small gasp and swerved out of the way of a large tree. The forest they were flying through was starting to get thicker and darker.

"Remember, this is a rescue mission, not a road trip for complaining." Shiro reminded them all. Pidge nodded in agreement.

"But i'm a bit confused. My scanner isn't picking up anything for the signal to be coming from." She stated, looking at her screen of various data charts. "There's only plants and water. Unless the tree's are giving off the signal. Kind of like the okalri and the moss balls they sent out."

"Maybe, but why haven't we seen any aliens yet?" Lance asked. "Who sent the signal?" A series of 'No idea' and 'i don't know' rang through the paladins headphones. 

"Keep a sharp eye out, Paladins, the signal should be right in front of you." Coran stated, a bit of suspicion in his voice. 

Pidge sped forward in her lion, alongside of her friends in their own lions. Moments later, they were all blinded as the trees suddenly vanished and they were flying above a huge cliff.

"Woah..." Pidge gasped. There was a huge crater that had to have been at least 5 miles across and a mile deep. The ground was bare of any plant life or water and a thick layer of white fog covered the ground at the bottom. But what amazed the five paladins, was not the crater itself, but the massive tree with a huge glowing meteor sitting in the branches. 

"What IS that?" Lance asked. "Coran, Allura, are you seeing this?!" He asked, sending the footage from his lion to the castle.

"To be honest, i don't know." Coran replied. "I have never seen anything like this." Allura said the same thing,

"Well, for starters, the tree is growing around the meteor, so it must have been here a long time. And it's where the signal is coming from. But, there isn't a ship, or any signs of life other than that tree." Pidge declared.

Shiro let out a sigh and thought for a moment. "Well, let's go investigate and see what's up with the signal. Pidge, scan that meteor when we get close to it and see if you can find out anything about it."

"Rodger that." The green paladin stated. But before anyone else could say or do anything, the lions suddenly began to shut down. The screens went full of static and a loud high pitched screech filled the ears of the paladins.

"What is that noise?!" Keith yelled, ripping off his helmet as he tried to regain control of his lion. The large metal monsters were spiraling from the sky.

Pidge tried every control she possibly could but her lion wouldn't listen. The controls beneath her hands seized up and refused to budge.

"Mayday, mayday! we're going down!" Shiro yelled. Pidge's eyes widened with fear as she saw the bottom of the crater approaching fast. She could hear her friends crying out in fear as they all plummeted to the ground. 

As the ground came closer, Pidge put her arms in front of her to protect herself, and with a loud crash, everything went silent and black.

 

 

A loud, annoying blaring noise awoke Pidge from her dreamless state of sleep. Everything she heard was muffled and low. Pidge opened her eyes slowly to find that she was lying down on the floor of her lions cockpit. Looking around she found it dark, and the only light source was a small red warning light. The beeping was from some alarm she couldn't bother placing right now.

Sitting up and clutching her head, Pidge let out a gasp of pain. Her body, despite being covered in armor, was bruised badly. Luckily nothing was broken. Except her lion. The green machine had flipped upside down and looked like a train wreck on the inside. Judging by how dark it was, Pidge guessed the big cat was lodged in the dirt to where no light could get in through the front window.

The short paladin limped over to where her helmet had been discarded and she put it on. 

"Hello? Can anyone hear me?" She asked. Static was the response. Well that was just great. "Damn it." She muttered. Pidge climbed her way through the rubble to the back of her lion. Unfortunately the lion had crashed at an angle so she was stuck climbing uphill.

When she reached the back exit of the metal lion, she found that the door was blocked from the outside, leaving her trapped. Tossing logic aside, she slammed her fists against the metal. 

"Hey! Can anyone hear me!? I'm stuck in here!" She yelled as loud as her lungs would allow. As if her prayers were answered, a voice called out in reply.

"Pidge?! You're ok!" It was Hunk. "There's a huge rock on the door but i think i can move it, gimme a minute." He hollered, barley understandable through the thick metal of the green lion. 

A loud scraping noise followed shortly after Hunk finished talking. Moments later, the door flung open and Pidge had to shield her eyes so she wouldn't go blind from the sudden lighting change. A hand grabbed her wrist and she was pulled easily from her lion and into a bone crushing hug. 

"Hunk....can't...breathe." Pidge stated. Hunk apologized and quickly set her down. "Where are the others? Are they ok?" She asked.

Hunk shrugged. "Shiro's fine and he went to get Lance and Keith, then he sent me to get you. I can't believe you're not hurt! Your lion got the worst of all of us." He stated, scratching the back of his neck. Pidge looked behind him to see the yellow lion a few hundred yards away. It was offline like her on, but only had a few scratched and dents. Her own lion?

With a grimace, Pidge turned around to find her lion half buried in the ground, and with a huge hole torn in the side, leaving snapped wires and broken circuits exposed that would take months to fix. Hunk was right. Pidge was super lucky and surprised that she wasn't hurt. That fall honestly should have killed her. 

"Damn it..." Pidge muttered. This was bad. Very very bad. "Ok, let's start with regrouping." She stated. Hunk nodded. The two made their way off of the fallen lion and towards the red and blue lions off in the distance.

Fortunately for them they didn't half to walk very far because the other three met them in the middle. 

"Hunk! Buddy you're ok!" Lance yelled and practically tossed himself onto the yellow paladin, attacking him with a hug. Shiro ruffled Pidge's hair and Keith stood there with a relieved look on his face. Pidge dropped her smile when she noticed Keiths arm. It hung limp and loos by his side. 

"What happened to your arm?" She asked.

"When i crashed my arm got wedged under my seat when i went flying and it broke. An hour in a cryo pod should fix hat though." He said with a sad smile. It was his sword arm that had broken. That meant he was left injured and defenseless on an alien planet with no way of even GETTING to a cryo pod. The lions were totaled and they had no communication with the castle.

"Hey, do you think the meteor did that to our lions?" Lance asked. Pidge nodded.

"Most likely. Our lions ceased function only when we got near it, and that's probably why we cant scan it either." She replied. Shiro stepped forward. 

"Well, we need a plan on what to do next. We need to get the lions online and get back to the castle, but we can't do that. At least not yet. We're assuming the meteor is what crashed us, so we need to go figure out how to shut it down somehow so we can get out of here. And we can check the distress signal while we're at it." The group nodded. "Alright, lets move out."


	2. To the heavens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The climb to the top begins

The group walked for what seemed like hours, but in reality it was only about 45 minutes. The planet they were on was that of a tropical biome, so the heat was expected. However the crater was bare of any plants other than the giant tree. So without supplies or shade, and in thick armor, the paladins were exhausted by the time they reached the large wooden plant. 

The tree, up close was now even larger than it seemed. The roots were exposed and were wide enough to hold a highway. A whole city even. It took a few minutes but eventually the group stood on top of one of the large roots.

"Look at how tall this thing is!" Hunk exclaimed. Pidge and Lance nodded in agreement. It was taller than any building they had ever seen. The large leaves above them had clouds floating through them. 

"It has to be at least two miles high." Shiro stated. Now that they had the huge tree blocking the sun rays, they all felt a lot better. "So, Pidge, it it the tree or the meteor that was sending out the signal?" He asked, looking to the shortest member of the group. Pidge knealt to the ground, found a good spot and placed her hand palm down to the smooth surface of the tree. 

Remembering what she had learned from the okalri, she let her focus go the life blood of the tree itself. Pidge let her eyelids fall shut as she felt the tree, trying to find something that wasn't in a normal plant. 

"Anything?" Keith asked, clutching his broken arm. Pidge shook her head.

"No, nothing. It's just a normal, but very large and unusually healthy tree." She replied, standing up and brushing the stray dirt from her hands. "That means that it has to be the meteor that's giving off the signal." She groaned in disapproval. "That means we have to climb..." 

"What about Keith's arm?" Hunk asked, pointing to the injured teen. "That's a long way up and we can't just leave him here." He stated, a look of worry in his eyes. 

"I'll be fine. The sooner we get up there, the sooner we can leave." Keith growled. Pidge could tell he was in pain but didn't want to show it. "Let's just go."

Shiro nodded. "Keiths right. Let's not waste anymore time." He said. He turned and began to walk further up the roots to the large tree. Pidge and the others followed close behind.

For the next few hours, Pidge and the rest of the paladins made their trek across the roots and to the thick part of the tree base. So far it was easy enough, since it was just walking and trying not to fall to the ground below the massive roots. They were high up enough to where it was to dark beneath the roots to see the ground.

"Our current altitude is approximately 400 meters." Pidge informed them as they reached the trunk. "Now the hard part begins. The climbing." But before any of them could move to climb up the smooth trunk 3, a raspy, deep voice that sounded almost supernatural filled the area.

"Paladins of Voltron......you have heard my call........." It said. Hunk freaked out and clung to Lances arm, who was also terrified. Keith took a fighting stance and looked around. Pidge looked around with wide eyes trying to find the source of the voice along with Shiro. 

"Where are you?" Shiro asked.

"I reside withing the stone above you. I have lived here peacefully for many moons. But that peace has been lost." The voice said, wavering a bit. "The Galra empire has found out about myself and they wish to destroy this planet and take my power. I am too weak to fight, so i called upon you five. Please, save my planet and myself....."

Shiro nodded. "Alright, what do we need to do?" He asked.

"There was a ship that crashed into my tree, and soldiers came forth and began to tamper with my home, the stone and the tree. Rid my home of them and i shall aid you in the fight against the empire. I beg of you, help me. I can get you to the top of the tree, as it is unclimbable from where you are now."

As if by magic, a large number of thick vines lowered next to the group of paladins. Pidge watched them in wonder. "So, you grew this tree?" She asked to the voice.

"Yes, when my stone found this planet, i felt guilt for destroying its surface by crashing into it, so i used my power to regrow the forest and this magnificent tree. Now please, you must hurry."

Pidge nodded and grasped onto the vine closest to her. Before she could ask anymore questions, the vine was yanked upwards at breakneck speed, nearly tossing her into the air. She could faintly hear her name screamed below her as she was pulled into the sky. After a few seconds of screaming wind and clenched fists, the vine slowed to a halt near a wooden platform the had grown perfectly flat. With shaky, heaved breathes, Pidge hopped off onto the platform. With weak knees she stood there catching her breath.

"My apologies." The voice said, much louder. "But you must hurry. The others will not follow you for they have reached different part of the tree. You are on your own." Pidge's eyes widened, but she nodded. She knew how to handle situations like this. 

"Alright." She said, voice dripping with confidence. Pidge activated her bayard and walked forward. The meteor was now in front of her. Up close, the surface was glassy and sharp with veins of various colors. What surprise her the most, was the small flowers sprouting from the strange rock. 

Pidge stepped across the wide platform silently, admiring the foliage. The leaves where about the size of a king sized mattress and she faintly wondered if they could be used as para-gliders. She was about to take a closer look when she heard a sharp thud and a gravelly voice.

"Hurry up would ya? Swing harder you buffoon." Pidge followed the voice and quickly dove behind a leaf when she saw a group of three galra soldiers, two pith a pickax of some sort. She gasped. They have chipped away enough of the meteor to create a huge gaping hole. A few burlap sacks held the loose stone that had been chipped away. A small hole was exposed at the back of the cavern that had been carved out and a bright light came from within it.

That was the power the voice was talking about. The galra really were after it. Making her moments quick and quiet, she snuck around the backside of the trio, sticking near the edge of the platform. The two with tools had began to chip away at the meteor again, so Pidge stalked up behind the one who was commanding them, and jumped on their back.

"What the!?" The commander shouted, reacting immediately, trying to pry the kid off of his back. Pidge flung her body weight backwards with all of her might, sending them both right off the edge of the platform. She released the galra and shot her bayard forward to hook into the platform, catching herself. She looked below to to find the commander trapped in a wrap of vines.

"A pasifist i see?" Pidge asked outloud. The voice replied.

"My job is to create and protect life, not harm it." Pidge nodded, understanding. She tossed herself back onto the ledge with her bayard and hurriedly threw one of the soldiers over the edge to the awaiting vines below. The last one learned his lesson and stayed away from the edge.

With quickly moments, Pidge latched onto a pickax with her bayard and flung it at the galra, knocking him out. Using a rope she found, Pidge bound the soldier to a branch. "Ok, what next?" She asked.

"Your friends have taken car of the other galra in my home. Enter the stone through the exposed entrance, and you will meet up with them." The voice called, now coming from the stone itself. Pidge nodded and ran into the small hole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will try to make the next chapter more interesting and a bit longer if possible but this chapter was a bit rushed, my apologies.


	3. Wake The Lion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A gift is bestowed upon the Paladins, can they handle it?

When Pidge entered the small hole in the rock, she expected a cave of some sort. But what she saw amazed her beyond her own belief. The meteor was much larger on the inside than the outside looked and the walls were glowing with the same colors on the outside but much brighter. Instead of there being caves and tunnels similar to a balmera, it was one giant cavern. 

The ceiling was covered with a variety of vines and brightly colored flowers, and in the center of the plant bunch was a large, glowing yellow and pink flower bud, or a pod of some sort. It looked, almost like and egg of some sort.

"Pidge! Down here!" A familiar voice called. The small female looked down below her, which was a couple hundred feet at least, and saw Lance standing in the bottom center of the cavern. Pidge waved don to him and looked for a way down. Deciding to be fast instead of sparing, she simply leaped off the ledge she stood on and used her jetpack to slow her fall and land near Lance. 

"You got separated, what happened?" The tall brunette asked. Pidge shrugged. 

"The creature that lives here and wanted us to help, he separated us on purpose i guess. I took out a few galra on my way in." She stated, and Lance nodded.

"I guess that makes sense. I took out a group on my way here as well. Maybe that's what the others are up to." Lance said, scratching the back of his head. "They did some serious damage to the meteor out there." A sad look crossed of his face. Pidge was about to say something when she was tackled from behind.

"Oh my gosh you two are ok!" Hunk yelled, hugging Pidge a bit to tightly.

"Hunk...air...I need it." She said with a small grin. The yellow paladin hastily but gently set her down on the smooth ground. "Thank you buddy." She said.

"No problem." Hunk said. 

Behind them, two more voices could be heard as Shiro and Keith entered the meteor. The two looked exhausted but otherwise uninjured. Using the same method as Pidge, they descended to the base of the meteor cavern with the other paladins. 

"Ok, so now we have everyone." Pidge said, looking around her. "What now?" She asked. Before anyone could answer her question, a yellow blob of glowing smile dripped onto her shoulder. She froze, goosebumps trailing over her frail body.

"Eeeeew space drool!" Hunk commented, stepping away from her. Pidge dared to glance above her, and found that the 'Space drool' came from the large bud she saw earlier. Another glob fell from it and landed on Lance, who automatically freaked out, wiping it all over Keiths good arm, who also freaked out.

"Paladins of Voltron," The voice from earlier said, much louder and let gravelly than before. "Thank you for protecting my home planet. I am much in debt to you." It was coming from the bud above them. Slowly, the whole group looked up, and the bud started to split open. The five paladins backed away as more gold slime poured from the bud. 

"What the-" Lance spoke. Before he could finished, the bud burst open a a large smile covered lump fell from the flower. Pidge screamed and jumped out of the way, along with the other paladins.

Pidge landed on her stomach and rolled for a few feet before quickly sitting up and readying her bayard for a fight. 

"Lower your weapon, paladin, i mean you no harm. I simply wish to reveal to you my true form. The meteor and the tree may be my life force, but i still have a physical form of my own." The slimy lump said. 

Steam arose from the lump in the center of the room, and the smile layer started to dissolve. After a few moments of a weird, honey smelling scent, the slime was gone, and what remained left Pidge speechless. 

A large serpent like body lay curled up on the floor, and Pidge could see a short bird like leg with razor sharp talons. A deep grumbling noise, similar to a purr resonated throughout the large cavern. A large head rose from the pile of shimmering, pastel colored scales. The head had large stag antlers with vines and flowers growing across the shimmering bone spikes. Feathers were littered across the blue and pink head that slowly formed into a yellow pointed beak similar to that of an eagles.

"Woah." Pidge said, standing up and sheathing her bayard. The others did the same, staring in awe. Lance took a quick picture to show Allura and Coran later. "You're beautiful." She stated, taking a step forward. The creature before Pidge uncurled it's body to it's full length and she estimated that the dragon looking animal in front of her was about 50 feet long and a few feet thick. However, while she was admiring the creature, it locked eyes with her.

"I see i have stolen your breath, paladin." It said. "My name is Vitea, and i am the one who called you here for help. I thank you for saving my life and my planet." Now that it, or rather she, was in front of Pidge, the young paladin realized that Vitea was a female. Supposedly. "You have done well to help me, and as i promised, i shall help you on your conquest to restore the universe to peace." 

Pidge nodded. "How so?" She asked.

"As a creator and protector of life, i offer you a trail that will strengthen your spirits and awaken your inner guardian." Vitea stood on her hind legs and rose to her full height, towering over the paladins. Lance took another photo while the rest stared in awe even further. "Paladins, do you accept my trial?" She asked.

Shiro looked to the younger four, and they all nodded. Vitea let out her own version of a smile. 

"Very well." Without warning, Vitea reared her head back, mouth open. a loud inhaling noise could be heard as the dragon breathed inwards, standing even taller. Pidges eyes widened in realization before she shielded her face with her arms.

With a loud bellowing roar, Vitea exhaled, and a fire of some sort erupted from her long throat at the paladins. Pidge and Lance let out a scream at the same time while the others tried to move, but the colorful flames caught up to them, and soon, the entire cavern was consumed in bright flames of a variety of colors. 

But strangely enough, the flames did not hurt. They felt heavy, warm and smooth, just like warm water actually. Pidge opened her eyes and gasped. She was surrounded in a beautiful array of colors ranging from dark green to bright pink. It was beautiful.

"Paladins, you have accepted my trial, good luck."

And like a dying star, everything went dark.

Hours later when the light returned to her eyes, only a few words came to her clouded mind. "What the quiznak just happened."


	4. The Five Trails

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chapter of fluff. Literally. This chapter is the one that i have been itching to write the most.

Sitting up, Pidge shook her head, a dull pain aching in the back of her skull. She was confused however when he didn't feel her glasses on her face. Opening her eyes, she looked around, and then froze.

In place of her four friends, were instead four large and furry beasts. "Lions..." She whispered to herself under her breath. The four lions, were bigger than any lion that she had seen in the zoo's on earth. They were larger than horses, especially the black one. The 3 others were Blue, Red and Yellow.

Here eyes widened, and she tilted her head down to gaze upon herself. Pidge was greeted by soft white fur and large fluffy paws that had light green fur on top of them. Letting out what was supposed to be shrill shout of surprise, instead came out as a loud yowl. 

Sitting up, she quickly came to the conclusion that the lions in front of her were probably her friends, the colors corresponding to their respectful lions back at the castle. And they were starting to realize what was going on. Lance and Hunk reacted similar to Pidge while Keith and Shiro seemed more in wonder that in panic. 

"Is this part of the Trial?" Shiro asked. His form was much larger than the rest of the group, top half covered in glistening in smooth black fur. Sitting up, Pidge noticed something else about Shiro.

He had wings. Huge wings with a black base and bright blue flying feathers. Pidge briefly wondered if her would let her keep one later. Shiro seemed to have notice where she was staring and turned his large fuzzy head to his back. 

"Woah." Was his only reactions.

"Paladins, this is your trial." Vitea's voice said. The large dragon had somehow ended up back on the ceiling where she lounged ina hammock of vines, a smile on her face. "On this planet, you will find 5 sacred shrines, each with a trail testing your abilities, your skill, and your spirit. Find these shrines and you will each receive a gift that shall aid your fight against the empire."

"Wait wait wait, so we have to go through the trial as giant cats?!" Hunk asked in disbelief. Vitea nodded.

"I will remain here and repair the damage the galra have done to my home. I have also fixed the interference with your ships, so you can communicate with your friends in the castle." Pidge vaguely wondered how she knew about Coran and Allura at the castle. Return to me when you have collected the five gifts, and i shall return your human forms. And those." Vitea pointed a clump of vines that held the paladins armor.....and clothes. Pidge's glasses sat neatly on top.

Before Pidge even looked, she could hear lance let loose a shrill shout of surprise. Looking to her furry blue friend, she saw him sitting on his hind legs, front paws covering his pelvic area. Hunk was doing the same thing but more modest and calm. 

"Ok, so not only are we lions but we are also naked." The yellow feline stated. Shiro chuckled.

"Hunk, we're covered in fur. We'll be fine." Shiro stood on all fours and proudly looked up to Vitea. "Thank you for your trial, Vitea, we will try our best to overcome it." He said with a voice full of confidence. Keith sat quietly by his side, looking around the room. Vitea nodded.

"Good luck to you all, paladins." Pidge watched with eyes full of wonder as a new flower bud sprouted from the ceiling, and gently closed around Vitea. Lance fell backwards from looking directly up and Hunk was speechless.

"Alright team, Let's go find the shrines. On our way we can get the lions up and running and contact Allura. That is if the lions will function with us like....this." Shiro said, looking at himself. He doubted he would even fit in the cockpit anymore. 

The five stood to their full heights, stretching out their new bodies. Pidge's body was smaller than the rest of the paladins, and her fur seemed more fluffy and soft than sleek. If anything she was more cute than terrifying like lions should be.

Lance's body was longer and taller but was just as slim and his blue fur seemed more smooth and less fluffy. Kinda of like panther fur. 

Hunk was huge. Not as big as Shiro, but just as well built. His body was short but he had broad shoulders and thick limbs. He was built for power.

Keith had a build similar to lance but his fur was longer a bit more wild while Lances looked well kept. He was also just a tad smaller, bit his tail was a bit longer and his claws seemed sharper. 

And Shiro? He was the whole package. Majestic and deadly. He had a short spiky black mane with the signature white tuff of fluff on his forehead. His fur was thick like a protective layer instead of just covering fur. He was very well built and Pidge could see every muscle on his body His tail looked like it could to some serious damage in he attacked with it. Shiro's wings, his wings were beautiful. While Shiro himself was at least 30 feet from head to tail, his wings had to be at least 50 feet across. Each. That's a hundred foot wingspan overall.

Another thing Pidge noticed, was that his arm was no longer robotic. It was a plain black and white paw with huge claws, just like the other limbs. Shiro noticed as well, flexing the limb from time to time.

"Wait, can we chill here for a bit and practice our new bodies?" Lance suggested, sitting down after attacking his own tail. "Allura and Coran must have noticed our absence by now, and are probably on their way. So let's just wait here for them."

Pidge nodded in agreement, standing up and swishing her tail around, the moment mesmerizing her. She could faintly hear Hunk and Keith agree as well. 

"Alright, we'll stay here and practice for now. But if they aren't here within the hour, we head out. Agreed?" Everyone nodded. 

Pidge couldn't hold back anymore and pounced at her new tail, almost catching under her paws. She gave chase, wanting to catch her tail without harming it. That proved harder said than done however as it kept moving away at the last second. She ran around a few more times, before colliding right into Lance.

"Cat pile!" Lance shouted, standing up and flopping directly on top of Pidge, nearly crushing her. A small fight ensued. Lance pawed at Pidges ears, claiming how adorable she looked. She flailed, trying to push the larger lion off of her. Luckily Hunk came to her rescue and easily lifted lance off of her with a simple nudge of his paw.

"I get that you two are having fun, and i all all in for fun, but we need to get used to these bodies." Hunk stated, towering up them. Lance hand rolled onto his back, exposing his soft while belly, his tail flopping lazily.

Pidge sat up and shook herself head to tail to fix her crazed fur. Looking over to Keith and Shiro, the two were circling each other in a mock fight. Keith was crouched low to the ground as he walked, making him look almost as small as Pidge, wile Shiro was fluffed up, wings spread similar to a bird that was defending territory. 

Before either could make a move, a loud boom came from outside of the meteor. The group cast a quick glance to one another before racing outside. They ran to the side of the cavern and used their new hind legs strength to jump up to the opening the Pidge had originally came through. Pidge missed the ledge however. Just as she started to fall back to the cavern floor, Shiro caught Pidge by her scruff, teeth gently holding her skin and fur.

With a kind smile, he lifted her to the ledge, but did not set the small green lion down until they were outside on the tree platform. The three galra Pidge had fought earlier were now hanging high above them, struggling against the vines that bound them. Now that they were outside and at a high altitude, they could clearly see the castle. It had landed near the crashed lions, and a small fighter ship that probably held Allura sped forward, leaving dust flying behind her.

They had some explaining to do.


	5. Surprise For The Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura is in for quite the surprise. Also, Lance takes a cat nap.

Pidge was relieved to say the least. The tree they stood in was huge, obviously, so getting down was a problem. Vitea offered a ride up when they had arrived, but since the trial began, they had received nothing but silence from the divine being. So all in all, there was six trials. the first one being to even make to to the other trials. 

Shiro would have just flown down on his magnificent new wings, but he didn't want to strand the team, and he had no idea how the hell to use them anyways. Pidge figure that instinct might take over but he had never had wings before, so she didn't even know if the instinct was there. 

So like a kitten stuck in a tree (literally) the paladins just stood there without a clue of what to do. The tree trunk was thick with no lower branches to climb or jump to, so that was off the list of options, and now that they had paws they couldn't slide down the vines.

"We're wasting time. We need to get don from here." Keith stated, leaning over the edge, a bit to far for Pidge's liking. If he fell there was no saving him. But Keith had other plans. "Screw it." He said, before swiftly leaping from the edge before Shiro could grab him.

"Keith!" Hunk yelled. The red lion had leaped far enough to where he reached the vines, and latched onto a thick on with his long, sharp teeth, effectively holding him in place. 

"Oh good job Kieth! Now you're stuck there." Lance growled. Keith just cast a glare in his direction, before swinging his body back and forth. Pidge watched in curiosity, trying to figure out his plan. 

When the angry feline had gained enough momentum, he released his grip, causing the rest of the paladins to gasp in pure horror as he fell, and fell, and WHAM! Right into the tree trunk he went. Those deadly claws Pidge remembered from earlier shot out and dug into the wood of the tree, and Keith started to slide down.

"Are you coming or what?" He called out to them as he slid down as if it was a joyride. Lance looked baffled and Shiro seemed very impressed. Pidge was busy analyzing in front of her to find the nearest vine. When she found one, she crouched, readying for a jump. Before she could, a blue blur sped in front of her, stealing her vine.

Lance had raced to the front, probably wanting to out show Keith by beating him to the bottom of the tree trunk. Pidge let out a growl of frustration. "That was my vine!" She yowled as Lance launched himself at the tree trunk and latched on. 

"Too slow!" He yelled back up at her. Pidge rolled her eyes. She then kindly let Hunk go before her so he wouldn't feel left out. The larger lion ruffled the top of her head with a huge paw before he made the leap of faith as well.

"Ok, you next, Pidge." Shiro stated. She nodded. Moving farther back, Pidge gave herself a running start so she would reach the vines (Since Lance stole hers earlier). When she neared the edge, Pidge gathered her paws beneath her, and jumped. She almost didn't make the jump, and barley caught the end of the vine in her jaws. She was lighter than the others, so holding on was a ton easier for her.

Pidge stated to swing, trying to be fast because she didn't want to keep Shiro waiting. When her momentum, was enough, she released the vine and was flung towards the tree. Her claws were almost to small to hold her, but after a moment of flailing and scrabbling to get a grip, she stayed in one place. But yet another problem arose.

She was so light compared to the others that she just stuck there, and didn't slide down. "Well this is just great!" Pidge yelled sarcastically, looking don to the other lions who were more than halfway down. Good news was that Allura hadn't arrived to the tree yet so she still had time. 

A large thud above her told her that Shiro had made it to the trunk. "Having fun down there?" The winged lion asked, sliding down and stopping right next to her.

"Oh yes, very much. Being the runt of the litter, well in this case pride, is just a ton of fun!" She replied. Shiro laughed and shook his head. He leaned over with his head and very gently took a hold of her scruff, pulling her from the tree. Pidge stayed quite and hung limp as Shiro held her and started to slide down the tree once more.

Now she felt even more pathetic than before. She didn't want help but at this point she needed it. Why did she always have to be the small one who was left out of things? Pidge could handle herself, or she should be able to. But now? Why was she having troubles now? Was this part of the trial? Was she supposed to be 'the weak one' who always needed help and protection?

Questions unanswered, the two lions arrived at the base of the tree where the rest of the paladins were waiting. Allura's ship was almost there so they decided to wait there for her. Setting Pidge down, Shiro walked over to the others to make sure they made it down okay. They were fine other than the fact the Hunk had a small splinter that no one could pull out. 

"Its huuuurts!" He complained. "Keith you have sharper claws can you like, use them as tweezers and pull it out?" Hunk asked.

"You'll just have to wait and have Allura pull it out for you." The red furred feline replied. Pidge wondered why he was so calm with the whole situation. He almost had no reaction at all when they were transformed earlier and Pidge wondered why. Maybe he liked being a giant killing machine? Yeah, that's probably it. 

Hunk pouted, not wanting to wait. "I've gotcha buddy!" Lance yelled, striding over to Hunk and looking at the favored paw of his friend. 

After a few minutes of yelling, whines of pain, and Keith complaining, Allura arrived. The small fighter ship halted a few meters from the root the lions were sitting on, and the hatch opened. Pidge expected Allura to be surprised, but what she didn't expect was lance to be tazed and promptly pass out. 

Allura emerged from the pod, a rifle shaped weapon buzzing with electricity held in her hands. And it was aimed right at Shiro. Before she could shoot again, Pidge bolted over, smacked the weapon from her hands and pinned her to the ground, careful not to harm her. Allura then proceeded to struggle to break free.

"Release me you monster!" She yelled. Of course, she didnt know that these giant colorful lions were her friends.

"Princess its me! Pidge!" She hollered. Allura stopped moving, and Pidge slowly stepped back.

"Pidge?" Allura removed her helmet to get a better look at the green horse sized lion in front of her. She then looked to Shiro and the others. "Paladins?" She asked. They nodded.

"Yup." Hunk stated, nudging his unconscious blue friend. "Is he gonna be ok?" He asked, voice tinted with worry. Allura's hands flew to her mouth with a surprised gasp and wide eyes.

"Oh my goodness i am so sorry! I didn't realize it was you!" She blurted. "Yes, Lance, if i'm right, he will be fine. He should wake up in about half a Varga." Regaining her posture, Allura cleared her throat. "So, does someone care to explain why you are all covered in fur?" She asked. Pidge nodded and sat down beside her. She was honestly surprised Allura could understand them. Either they were speaking fluent English or Allura could speak to animals.

"The signal was coming from that meteor in the tree and there were galra trying to steal pieces of it. Destroy it. This awesome space dragon, thanked us for our help by offering us a trail. We accepted the trail and here we are now." She stated, lazily flopping her tail against the root they stood on. Allura started for a moment before shaking her head.

"What exactly is this trail?" She asked.

"There are five shrines located on this planet and we have to retrieve a sacred gift from each one, and then return here. If we are successful we each receive a gift and return to our human forms."

"And what exactly is the name of this 'space dragon'?" Allura asked, squinting a bit. Confused, Pidge replied.

"She said her name was Vitea. She claimed to be a creator of life, but i find that hard to believe as life cannot simply just be created." Pidge stated trapping her tail under her front paws so it would stop flopping around. 

"Wait, Vitea?! You met Vitea and she offered you a trial!" Allura smiled and suddenly seemed very excited.

"Wait do you know her?" Keith asked, stepping forward. Allura nodded.

"Well, sort of. I know who she is but i do not know her personally. I only thought she was a myth. According to a ton of old writing found on multiple ancient planets, Vitea is the one who planted the seeds of life on nearly all of the planets. Earth for example. Humans had to start somewhere. This planet we are on now only has plants and water so far."

The five paladins stood there, baffled. Pidge stepped in front of Allura. "You mean to tell us that we just met the creator of all life in the entire universe?!" She asked in disbelief. She knew people back on earth who would kill for information like this. She wouldn't tell anyone, of course.

"If the myths are true, then most likely." Allura stated. "Is it possible for me to go up there and meet her myself?" The princess asked. Pidge shook her head.

"Not right now. She said she needed to rest and repair the damage the galra have done to her home." The pink armored female nodded. "But for now, we need to find the shrines. That and i'm pretty sure you saw the condition of the lions. Not us, but the giant metal ones." Pidge stated. Another nod.

"Coran already started working on that when i started my trip here. They should be fixed up in no time. Let's head to the castle and locate those shrines."


	6. Don't get your mustache in a twist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coran is just as surprised as Allura, but with a much funnier reaction.

Pidge loved dinosaur movies. The tech that was involved in the making of them or the tech in the movies themselves always amazed Pidge to no end. The Jurassic Park series was a personal favorite of those movies. The science behind bringing the ancient animals back to life seemed possible in her opinion, but she never dared try it for herself. Her size would just result in her getting eaten. That is if it worked.

In the series, Jurassic World was number one on her list. She always said it was because of the science, but she just loved the thrill of the movie, the epic battle scenes, and the dinosaurs themselves. One of her two favorite scenes was when Brady was in the cage with the raptors, telling them to stand back right before he made a hasty escape.

But Pidge's all time favorite scene by far, was the one where Brady was on the motorcycle with the raptors running with him. It was just epic and Pidge wanted with her whole heart to have a moment like that.

Thanks to Vitea, she could have that moment. Sort of. In this situation, it was Allura in a fighter ship in place of Brady on his bike, and then in the raptors place was the paladins as lions, running to keep up with her as she sped off towards the castle. The thrill was still there.

Shiro ran right up beside Allura, wingtips nearly brushing against the small ship as he galloped. Lance And Keith were to her left while Hunk was right behind Shiro, and Pidge took the rear. It sucked being in the back, dust from the ship stinging her eyes, but it was still fun nonetheless.

"Last one to the hangers is a bad kitty!" Lance yelled, taking of in a full sprint to the castle. Keith bolted ahead with no hesitation, easily passing Lance who had a dumbfounded look on his face. Hunk took off as well, but wasn't very fast, nearly going the same speed as before. Pidge laughed and sped up as well, small legs carrying her faster than she had expected. Not nearly as fast as Keith, but enough to catch up to Lance just as they reached the open door of the castle hanger where the crashed metal lions were.

Keith was sitting on the smooth floor patiently when Pidge and Lance made it inside, enjoying the cool air from the vents as it rustled his sleek red fur. Pidge flopped on the floor breathing heavy with a huge grin on her face. Lance did the same.

"By my calculation, these tiny legs should not have been able to carry me that fast." Pidge stated, causing both Keith and Lance to laugh. Shiro arrived along side of Allura with Hunk, out of breath and right behind them. Hunk immediately collapsed for a quick power nap. 

Allura parked the fighter back along side of the rest of the smaller ships and hopped out. She removed her helmet letting her long white hair flow free.

"All right, first things first, lets inform Coran of the situation. You wait here while i go get him." She informed them, walking away, looking towards Shiro a bit. 

Once she was gone, Hunk started snoring. The four paladins left awake stared for a moment before laughing.

"Now he decides to take a nap?" Pidge asked with a small laugh. Hunk had fallen asleep on his back, leaving his fuzzy white belly exposed to the ceiling. She smiled and looked to the others, only to find Lance yawning.

"Y'know? A nap actually doesn't sound that bad right now." The blue lion stated, licking his lips after he finished yawning. Did lions even have lips?

Pidge was about to protest, about to say that they had a mission to focus on, but she realized how tired she actually was. Today had been tiring both mentally and physically. Lance made his way over to where Hunk was laying and plopped down a few feet away from him. Lance chose to lay on his side instead of his back like Hunk had.

"I agree with Lance. But i'll stay up and wait for Allura and Coran to arrive. Keith, Pidge, go ahead and rest for now." Shiro stated, laying down but keeping his head held wide ans he crossed his paws. Keith nodded and walked to the far side of the room, away from the others before sliding his paws across the ground to sink into a sleeping position on his stomach. 

Pidge looked around for a moment, trying to figure out a good sleeping spot. She shivered a bit. The cold air coming from the vents of the castle was starting to get under her fur and she didn't like it. Before she could find a spot away from the vents, Shiro used his head to motion her over to him.

The small lion padded her way over beside him and before she could ask questions, a large feathery blanket of blue covered her. Pidge was only about half the size of the older males wing so it easily covered her. The reaction was immediate as the cold air was blocked from her small form and she stopped shivering.

Now warm and comfortable, Pidge laid her head down, more tired than before. Instead of a thank you like she wanted to say, a quiet yawn came from her mouth as she slowly fell asleep. 

Shiro was always like a father figure to her ever since they had become paladins of Voltron. He always manage to look out for her even when he was busy with the other three and busy being the leader. If she had a hard time, he was there to give her advice and sow her the way. Just like a dad.

.

.

.

When Pidge awoke, it wasn't nice. She had been woken up by the shrill shout of "Holy quiznack!" coming from Coran. SHe had woken up in such a quick manner that she had sat up and smacked right into Shiro's wing. 

Coran had attempted to hide on top of one of the fighter ships and Allura was laughing. Shiro was sitting awake, unmoved from when Pidge saw him before she fell asleep, and he seemed very amused my Coran's attempt to try and hide. Even Pidge could reach him if she really wanted to.

"Allura why are there lions...REAL lions in the castle!?" He asked. 

"Calm down Coran, it's just us, and please stop yelling." Keith stated, stretching as he woke up. Lance and Hunk were still out like lights, but Hunk had rolled on top of Lance and all that remained of lance was his tail. The rest was buried under his best friend.

Coran didn't react to Keiths statement, only appearing more freaked out. Allura looked confused.

"Coran? Can you not understand what Keith said?" She asked. Coran looked baffled.

"Keith? That's not Keith that's a giant can and no! Of course i can't understand it. All i heard was growling!" The mustached man stated, still not coming down from the top of the fighter ship. Shiro stood to his full height, making Pidge feel even smaller than before now that the black furred feline towered right above her. She instead busied herself with trying to pull Lance out from underneath hunk. 

"Alright Coran don't get your mustache in a twist. And come down here will you? You could fall and get hurt!" Allura shouted at the elder Altean. Coran, still a bit nervous, obeyed and climbed down and hurriedly stood beside Allura.

"These lions are the paladins. The great creator Vitea offered them a trial and they turned into these." The princess explained. Coran nodded, looking at each of them individually. He seemed to make the color connection that Pidge had earlier.

"So, you guys really are the paladins. But that doesn't explain why i can't understand what they're saying!" He stated.

"Allura can understand the mice, so maybe she can understand what animals are saying?" Keith suggested, standing beside Shiro now. The two looked rather intimidating. 

"Maybe." Allura said before relaying the message to Coran.

Pidge had somehow managed to roll Hunk off of Lance but they remained asleep. "Lazy cats." She stated, walking over to Allura. "I agree with Keith. That's the best reason i can think of." 

"Makes sense." Coran said after Allura translated for him, walking over to her. Pidge felt a bit uncomfortable under the gaze of the mustached menace. "It seems your new forms have all the attributes of your human forms, but still very different. Size is one, but structure of the body as well. But if you're the only female, why does only Shiro have a mane? All male lions should have a mane." Coran stated, tugging on her tail. Pidge took a step forward, causing Coran to fall forward with an 'oof'.

"Maybe they aren't the right age. Lions only grow a mane once they reach adulthood. At least that's how it is on Altea." Allura stated. Coran nodded. 

"That might be it. With the exception of number five that is." He said, acknowledging her gender. Maybe that's why she was smaller. Aren't female lions smaller than males?

"Alright, enough messing around Coran. We need to locate the shrines Vitea told us to seek out." Shiro said, walking over to Lance and Hunk to wake them up. Allura grabbed Coran and started to pull him to the control room. 

"You can take notes later Coran, but they have a mission to get done. Paladins? You all seem very tired so go ahead and stay in the hanger where you all actually fit and rest while we locate the shrines." The princess said she she left the room with Coran. Shiro nodded and laid back down. The vents had turned off by now so Pidge didn't need a dad blanket anymore.

Keith and Shiro returned to their original spots and layed down. Shiro fell asleep immediately while Keith took a few minutes. Allura had dimmed the light and closed the main door so they weren't being blinded in their sleep.

Lance and Hunk complained for a bit that they didn't need to be woken up if they were going right back to sleep, before they promptly passed out on top of each other again. Pidge stayed near the door leading to the hallway and just layed down like a normal cat would, falling asleep quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter seems a bit sloppy. Family issues decided to show up today so i was a bit distracted. Luckily that distraction led to a much longer chapter. 1,751 for a word count this time.


	7. Missing Shrine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After another cat nap, a plan is formed

When Pidge next awoke, she was surprised that Hunk was no longer on top of Lance, but had somehow wandered over to her small corner and was on top of her. Looking around the dim room, Pidge found that Shiro layed upside down and Lance was sprawled on top of Keith. Letting out a soft laugh, Pidge worked on freeing herself.

Her claws had no grip on the smooth castle floor, Pidge resorted to wiggling her way out from Hunk very slowly. Once free of the fuzzy prison, she made her way over to the the door. Being the smallest of the group, she was the only one who could still fit in the castle hallways. That was if she was crouching. 

Worming her way through the castle, and sitting in the elevator, she made her way up to the control room. One there, she squeezed out of the small elevator and marched into the room. Coran was too busy working at the front controls to notice her, but Allura saw her and waved. "Good morning Pidge! I feel bad for making you all sleep on the ground. Coran and i can moves some cushions down to the hangars later." Allura stated. 

"Thank you. I slept fine but pillows sound nice." She stated with a smile. Coran heard Pidge and turned around. 

"Ah! Number five! I didn't hear you come in." He stated. On the screen in front of him was a map with four dots. She guessed they had yet to find the fifth shrine. Walking closer to the control panel, and sitting beside Allura, she saw a screen with video from the hangars where the rest of the paladins were still sleeping peacefully.

"Were you watching us sleep?" She asked. Coran nodded. 

"I was just keeping an eye on you to make sure you guys were alright. You were turned into lions, so we have to be careful." He stated. "Who knows what could happen." The ginger returned to his work on the console, tapping rythmatically on the touch screen. 

"So, judging by the dots on the display, you guys found four of the shrines?" Pidge asked, taking a seat beside Allura. The white haired Altean nodded. 

"We can't seem to locate the fifth one however. We've tried every type of tracking that the castle has, and we found nothing. It's very odd. We even sent out a few drones and they haven't returned yet. Coran and i were thinking we should return to space and scan the entire planet."

"That would take a long time. How about me and the others go to the four we found and you and Coran go back up and scan while we get through the shines. If you find the final one, come back don and find us. We can put trackers on us so you can locate us easier." The green lion suggested. 

Coran thought for moment. "You know that's actually not that bad of an idea. We have trackers that we normally out in our ships, but we could make some sort of harness or something to put on you." 

"Absolutely not." Allura stated. 

"What why not?!" Pidge asked, standing up.

"Because i'm coming too. I don't get out of this castle enough and you may need my help. There are things that you can't do with paws you know." 

Coran rushed over. "Princess, i can't allow that. We know nothing of this planet, and if the scanners can't find the shrine, who else knows what there is being hidden." He stated. Allura rolled her eyes.

"I can handle myself Coran. I'm not a child anymore. I'm going and you cannot stop me." The princess said, turning to walk away and leave the room. Lets go Pidge, we must wake the others and get ready to go. " Pidge cast a sorry look to Coran before quickly following. 

Once out of the room, Pidge crouched to fit through the hallways. "You know he's just trying to look out for you, right?" She said. Allura didn't turn to look at her but answered anyways.

"I get that, but i'm not just a Princess who needs to be protected. I deserve to join the process of taking down the person who destroyed my home and my people." Allura said, taking a breath. "I will apologize to him later but he needs to understand what i'm doing."

Pidge nodded, understanding the feeling. Being the youngest of the group, she tended to be left out of a lot of things. Maybe that's why her and Allura got along so well. Other than the fact that they were the only two females within the area. 

Soon the two arrived at the hangars where the rest of the Paladins were still sleeping, and an idea popped into Pidge's head. Sneaking forward, Allura gave her a confused look. The green furred lion crawled over to where Lance lay flopped on top of Keith, and stood right next to Keiths head by his ears.

Pidge inhaled the deepest breath she could, and let loose a roar. It was a bit wimpy, but the reaction was enough. 

Keith's eyes shot open, pupils in slits and he jumped up, effectively flinging Lance off of him. Lance looked terrified as he looked around the room with wide eyes. Hunk awoke with half lidded eyes with a muffled. "I'm up! I'm up."

Shiro was on his feet in seconds, teeth bared and wings extended. Man did he look scary. Not as scary as Keith. The sleek furred lion was crouched low to the growl, growling deeply at Lance who looked confused.

All eyes fell on Pidge when she started to laugh. 

Shiro's wings slowly dropped to his sides and Lance calmed down, but still seemed confused. Keith was confused and very angry looking while Pidge rolled around in her fit of laughter.

"What the hell was that for, Pidge!?" The red lion yelled, standing up tall, fur fluffed up and eyes still in slits. 

"It was a joke, lighten up." Pidge stated, standing up, still laughing a bit. Allura was by Shiro's side, laughing a bit while relaying the plan to him. 

"Well it wasn't funny, so stop laughing." Keith said with another growl. Pidge stopped smiling and shrank back a bit. The look he was giving her was not a pleasant one. It reminded her of how a real lion looked while defending territory. Maybe that's what was going on. Were their new bodied making them act differently?

Before she could continue thinking, she felt Lance nudge her side. "Come on, let's go talk to hunk and explain what's going on." Pidge nodded, thankful for the escape. She could see Lance glance back at Keith, who was still glaring at them. The two lions walked over to Hunk.

"So what's all the noise?" The larger lion asked when they got close. 

"Pidge decided to be an alarm clock to wake us up. Apparently they came up with a plan while we were all asleep." Lance explained. "So, what is the plan?" He asked.

"We've located four of the shrines, but the fifth one is being tricky. Coran is going into space to get a better scan of the planet while we go to the four we found. Allura is coming too." She said. They nodded, understanding. "Coran wants us to wear trackers so he can find us when he locates the final shrine."

"Speaking of which, we found out how you will wear the trackers." Allura said, walking over. She held three thick and heavy looking strips of belt like fabric. They each had metal clasps on the ends.

"wait wait wait, you want us to wear collars?!" Hunk asked, standing up. Lance smirked.

"Sounds kinda sexy to me-" That statement earned him a paw to the back of the head. Shiro had somehow ended up behind them and heard Lance.

"Enough messing around. And yes, collars. We would have had ear clips but that was a more painful and time consuming option." The winged lion stated. A white collar hung around his neck with a small flashing blue light. 

"Seems fair to me." Pidge stated, lowering her head so Allura could hook the collar on her. Lance and Hunk did the same. When she finished with them she made her way over to Keith.

Pidge used her paw to fiddle with the new accessory, as it made the fur underneath it itch a bit. Hunk didn't seem to mind and Lance wouldn't stop grinning. Pidge could tell Shiro didn't like the collar but he didn't mess with it. Keith didn't seem to happy about his collor and scratched at it frequently. 

Pidge was honestly surprised that Keith even let Allura put it on him. 

"Alright, i'm going to get my hover bike. It's easier to maneuver through trees with that than a fighter ship." Allura stated. Pidge's eyes lit up, remembering the Jurassic moment they had yesterday. 

After a few minutes, she returned dressed in her armor and on her white and blue hover bike. "Alright paladins, let's move out!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry about not updating yesterday, i was at my grandparents house and they don't have wifi.


	8. Taking flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The paladins find out that the scanners were wrong, and they are not alone on this planet.

The next morning when Pidge awoke, she wondered if they would ever have a normal wake up call as lions. Lance had yet again somehow ended up on top of Keith again, and she found herself being crushed by Hunk. Allura was still leaning against Shiro, both sleeping peacefully.

Wanting to be on her own for a big, Pidge wiggled out from beneath the pile of yellow furred friend and wandered from the campsite. She made sure to keep Hunks bright colored fur in her view so she wouldn't get lost on accident. The ground was a pit damp from morning dew and she left water filled paw prints everywhere she stepped. 

The area was mostly tree's but every now and then there were small clearings of dark green grass. Well, as close to grass as an alien planet could get. It was a lot darker colored and thicker than on earth. There were some other plants too, and some weird looking fruits, but Pidge didn't dare try to eat them.

There were two reasons for that. One, she didn't know if they were poisonous, but she also didn't know if she could eat it at all. Lions were carnivores, they didn't eat vegetation. Then again they weren't normal lions.

Suddenly, she heard a noise off to her left, further away from the campsite. Pidge froze and her ears shot up as she looked in the direction of where the noise came from. It sounded like a growl.

"Lance? Is that you?" She asked out loud. No reply. "Come on this isn't funny, you know that we have to be carefu- AH!"

Pidge scrambled backwards as a large black and brown creature exploded out of the ground, sending dirt and plants everywhere. It was huge, nearly the same size as Shiro. It looked like some twisted hybrid of a dog and a wasp, with huge silvery clear wings, and a uhge gaping maw lines with razor sharp teeth and covered in green slime.

"Holy quiznak!" Pidge yelled, turning tail and running back to the camp. She ran as fast as she could, dodging tree's and various potholes in the ground. The bug thing had taken flight and was following closely behind her. She thought she was fast enough until a hooked claw snagged her back leg and sent her flying.

She hit a nearby tree and fell to the ground. Ignoring the bloody limb and pain, she kept running. If she stopped now she would be dead, and the others wouldn't know that the insect was coming.

When she got to camp, everyone was still asleep, unfortunately. "Shiro wake up!" She yowled, pouncing on him. 

The winged lion leapt up, causing Allura to fall backwards onto the ground with a startled yelp. "What is it Pidge?!" He asked. Shiro saw her leg and his eyes widened. "What happened!?" He asked, fur spiking up in alarm at the scent of her blood.

"That!" She yelled pointing her head in the direction of the bug. With excellent timing, the monster crashed from the treeline with a horrendous shriek. Keith shot up from where he was laying and Lance woke up with a start when he hit the ground. Hunk woke up as well and was scrambling away from the monster.

Shiro had moved to stand in from of Pidge and Allura. The princess had moved to check on Pidge's leg while the others gathered side by side and prepared for a fight. The black furred lion had his wings raised and his fur was on end. A menacing growl escaped from his open jaws. For a moment the bug thing backed up. Shiro had intimidated it. Keith was growling as well, but he was lower to the ground with his tail thrashing. 

Lance and Hunk stood side by side. Lance stood firm and made no move to growl or attack, but just stood there with a look of anger on his face. Hunk seemed a bit scared, but was prepared to fight for his friends.

Pidge wanted to stand with them, but she could barley stand at all. And she hated it.

Shiro took a step forward, and the bug made it's move. With a screech, it launched at Keith, wanting to take out the smaller lion first. It hadn't expected the red lion to move away quickly and attack it from the side. With it's back now exposed, Shiro flapped his wings in in one mighty leap he had jumped onto the bug. 

Lance and Hunk moved to help Keith attack the sides and legs white Shiro dug his teeth and claws into the creatures spine and try to damage it's wings. It seemed like a good plan of attack, until the bug kicked away the three lions by it's sides. With another screech like roar, it's wings buzzed and it took to the sky, Shiro still attached. 

"Shiro!" Pidge yelled as the two ascended to the sky. She went to jump up to grab the bugs leg, but Allura had crabbed her by the collar and yanked hard, bringing her front legs back to the ground. "We have to help him!"

"I know that but you are in no condition to fight!" Allura stated. "Shiro can handle himself. And he has wings so if he does fall, he can land safely."

"I'm on it. Hunk give my something to jump!" Keith yelled. Hunk ran forward with his head down. Pidge was a bit confused because Hunk charged right at Keith. Keith saw and started running right at Hunk as well. What the quiznak were they doing?

Right before they collided, Keith jumped, and the moment his paws connected with Hunks head, The yellow lion jerked his head upward, successfully throwing Keith into the air. Pidge watched in awe as Keith went flying and latched onto the front of the creature. With the added weight, the bug began to fall.

As soon as the bug hit the ground, Lance jumped into action and bit into one of the wings. A pained screech ripped through the air and it hurt Pidge's sensitive ears.

Now rendered flightless and weak, the bug went nuts, instincts taking over. It flung itself around, trying to get the winged lion off of him and trying to hurt the other lions.

Shiro spread his wings wide, and Keith jumped off of the bug. The others backed away quickly and surrounded Pidge and Allura.

With a mighty roar, Shiro dug his claws into the creatures hard exterior. and pulled. His large wings flapped furiously. The powerful gusts sent up dust and Pidge had to shut her eyes and dig her claws into the ground to avoid being pushed back. Allura let out a shout as she lost her footing in the hurricane like wind, but Lance caught her by the back of her uniform yet again.

Moments later, the dust cleared, and they were gone. There was no sign of Shiro or the creature. Lance put Allura down and they looked around, trying to find their leader.

"Shiro?" Allura asked out loud, stepping out of the confused circle of lions.

Suddenly the carcass of the bug dropped to the ground in a massive, slimy heap. Allura's hands flew to her nose in disgust. The thing smelled horrible.

Pidge looked up and smiled with a dropped jaw. Shiro was roaring with a huge grin, wings spread as he flew around in circles and in loops above them.

He had learned how to fly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will try to add 2 chapters every week from now on.


	9. Entrance of Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get heated between a pair of rivals, and Pidge just wants to find the shrines already so she can take a nap.

It had taken nearly a half an hour to get Shiro to come down from the sky above, since no one really had anyway to go up and get him. The winged leader had to return to the planet surface eventually when he could almost taste the scent of Pidge's blood. The fluffy green fir of her leg had been stained a deep crimson from the bleeding wound. Luckily it wasn't as deep as it felt, but Allura said that the insect alien had hit an artery so better safe than sorry. While Shiro learned how to land, Allura stitched the wound shut and bandaged it tightly.

"Sorry to leave you guys stuck down here, but holy crow that was amazing!" Shiro exclaimed when he finally made it to the ground. He had crashed, but hey it works. "Flying around in ships and the black lion is awesome, but using my own wings? Even better!" He said, out of breath. Pidge watched as Keith rolled his eyes with a faint smile.

Hunk and Lance were taking a short nap towards the treeline to make up for their lost beauty sleep earlier that morning and Pidge couldn't blame them. Ever since the transformation, sure they were more powerful, but they were also tired a lot more. 

"Well, you're leg should be fine for now if you don't sprint or anything like that." Allura stated, standing up from the spot she had been sitting on by Pidge's leg. The green feline nodded.

"Thanks. It feels a lot better." She commented with a toothy smile. Allura seemed a bit freaked out at the sight of that many sharp teeth in one mouth so Pidge averted her gaze elsewhere. "So, where did that bug thing even come from? The scanners said there was no life here other than plants." She said, suddenly remembering the recent events. Then again Vitea hadn't shown up on the scanner either.

"Yeah whats up with that?" Lance asked, suddenly awake and standing by Pidge. Hunk sat on her other side with a huge yawn. She almost laughed at her own thoughts. 'That was a short CAT nap.'

"I'm not sure, but this means we have to be a lot more careful and way more alert." The princess said. Shiro nodded in agreement, moving to stand by her side. 

"Next time we stop to rest, we take turns keeping watch. Understood?" Shiro asked to the team, well, pride of lions before him. They all nodded in agreement to the new rule.

Except for Keith. He was staring off in the direction that the bug had come from with wide eyes and forward ears. He stood up and took a step forward. "Do you guys hear that?" He asked in almost a whisper.

"No, hear what?" Pidge asked to the red furball. She focused as hard as she could, but came up with nothing other than the winds and rivers.

"Welp, it's official, Mullet's lost his mind." Lance stated. That statement earned him a glare from Keith. "Just saying." He muttered. Pidge walked over to Keith and looked in the direction he was. 

"What does it sound like?" She asked. He shook his head.

"Not sure, but it's kind of like a hum, or a vibration." He tried explaining. "We should check it out." He said, moving forward. Shiro didn't stop him.

"I agree, maybe it has something to do with one of the shrines." The winged lion said, lowering himself to the ground so Allura could hitch another ride. Lance pouted a bit at that, and Keith snickered at him. Soon, the three of them were walking, following Keith.

He was easy to follow for the most part due to his bright red fur coat, but the more they walked, the more frantic and lost he seemed. He kept changing directions, stopping completely, and randomly bolting at times. Pidge had stopped to ask him what the heck he was doing, and he only replied with "Instincts."

Well that was great. He was going to get them all lost at this rate! Shiro tried to assure them and tell them to have patients, seeing as they had no idea where they were going anyways. Allura's map could only get them so far on this strange planet. 

Suddenly, Keith stopped one last time. "It's louder now. I can feel it, not just hear it." Pidge then felt as doubtful as she ever had. In front of them was a large stone wall. A cliff face. "Maybe it's in the wall?" Keith suggested, suddenly at a loss as to why his 'instincts' would lead him to a dead end. 

"Oh great going Keith now we're even more lost than before!" Lance growled. "Of course you'd be the one to let this happen-" Before he could say another word, Keith was on top of him. Literally.

"Keith!" Shiro roared as Keith bit and clawed at the blue lion beneath him. Pidge and Hunk suddenly backed away as the fight broke out. Lance was bigger, but Keith was stronger and faster. They weren't even yelling at each other anymore, just growling and hissing as they tried to maim one another.

Lance managed to throw Keith off of him and stand up, rearing up with his hackles raised and teeth bared. A low growl dripped from his mouth that sent shivers down Pidge's spine. Keith was low to the ground, a hiss coming from his throat as he edged closer to Lance, a wild look of hunter and hatred in his eyes. He craved blood and he wasn't hiding it.

"Guys stop fighting!" She yelled, though it came out more of a desperate squeak. Lance and Keith had always bickered, but they had never been in an actual fight, wanting to hurt each other. Shiro wanted to step in, he really did, but with Allura on his back he picked her safety over their fight, figuring they would stop soon enough.

After a few more minutes of Claws and teeth, and even a few scratched and hits, Lance was cornered against the cliff face. Lance, suddenly snapping to his senses, realized the predicament he was in, and backed up as far as he could with his eyes wide and ears lowered to try and show surrender.

Keith ignored him, and stalked closer, fangs bared. He already had a bit of blood from when he managed to bite at one of Lances paws. He came closer and closer, and Lance started mewling pathetically.

"Keith wouldn't kill him, would he?" Pidge asked quietly to Hunk, who had taken shelter behind a tree. Hunk didn't answer.

"Keith that is enough! Stand down!" Shiro yelled. Keith didn't make any move that he had heard him. And before Shiro could stop him, Keith lunged at Lance, jaws open and claws out.

Lance squeezed his eyes shut and shrunk back against the wall, now only on his hind legs. He braced himself for impact because he knew he would never get out of the way in time.

A thud was heard as two paws landed on either side of Lances head. He opened his eyes and they filled with fear when sharp teeth were only inches away. Keith was panting heavily, the wild look still in his eyes, but he didn't move. He didn't attack Lance anymore, just stood there, towering over the terrified blue lion.

He reared back and let a terrifying roar let loose and rip through the air, right in Lance's face. Pidge watched as Lance shut his eyes tight and shrink back even more as the loud noise and hot breath washed over him. When Keith was done, he shut his mouth and let a small growl continue.

Before either of the riled up teens could move, a loud rumble filled the area. "Guys move!" Pidge yelled when rocks started to fall. Keith and Lance snapped out of whatever trance they were in and leapt away from the cliff face.

When the rocks finished falling and the dust cleared, a massive entrance to a dark staircase was opened before them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Like i promised, here's the second chapter for this week! It is a couple hundred words longer than normal, but that's because i wanted to make the fight scene as detailed as possible. I hope you guys liked the spiced up rivalry! They won't stay mad at each other for too long, so don't worry :)


	10. Making Ammends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Make ups and hugs!

The paladins of Voltron and the princess sat in a stunned silence at the opening before them. Keith had found the shrine. Vitea had said the trials were meant for all of them but there were specific ones for each paladin. And this one was Keiths. Lance's ears were folded back on his head, a guilty look on his face as he stared at his front paws.

Pidge took a step towards the entrance and peered down the stairs. "No lights? How the heck are we supposed to see?" He asked. Allura had a small flashlight on her suit, but that wouldn't be enough.

"Can't cats see in the dark or something?" Keith suggested. Pidge nodded. 

"Yeah i guess so." She admitted. She doubted it, but she never thought she would end up as a six hundred pound green cat either. It was worth a shot. "But i am not going first. Dark staircases freak me out." She stated, stepping back. Her leg still hurt a bit from the bug attack. Keith took a step forward.

"I'll go first, but i think it best that we set up camp here for now and check it out on the morning when we all feel a bit better." The red lion said. He nodded towards Pidge. "I get the feeling your leg might do better if we wait for it to heal a bit more." Pidge nodded and watched with a sad smile as Keith glanced over to Lance, who seemed very wary of the smaller lion, flinching when he got to close and keeping his head low to the ground. 

Shiro growled a small agreement. He let Allura down before walking off to get some wood for a fire. The paladins didn't need a fire for warmth with their layers of fur, but all Allura had was her suit. Pidge kind of felt bad for her, but the princess had wanted to come along.

"Alright, find somewhere comfy and lay down so i can clan your leg." Allura instructed to Pidge. She nodded and found a relatively flat spot to lay. The rock slide Keith had caused covered a lot of the area in rocks and dust. And speaking of dust, it had gotten under Pidge's fur and it annoyed her to no end. 

"Do you have a cloth or something so i can get the dirt out of my fur?" Pidge asked Allura, trying to ignore the itchiness. She knew big cats like lions took tongue baths by licking themselves, be she didn't dare try that. She wasn't that desperate.

"Sadly no, but i can try and bring you some water." Allura replied with a sad smile. Pidge nodded and Allura walked to go find a small stream. In the meantime, she laid her head down on her paws and flicked her ears lazily. Pidge shifted her gaze over to Lance who was sulking by a nearby tree. Man, he was really hung up on that fight wasn't he?

As if on cue, Keith walked right over to Lance. The blue lion sat up in surprise before backing down again as if he was going to get attacked. She saw a small frown on Keith. For lions, their emotions were pretty easy to read.

"Listen, Lance. I am really sorry about attacking you like that." Keith said. Lance seemed a bit surprised at that comment. "I....i don't know what came over me. I turned around to yell at you, but.........something happened and i just acted without thinking. I think it had something to do with being close to the shrine but i'm not sure." Keith explained, keeping his own head low and ears lazy on his head. He was trying to look as non threatening as possible.

Lance shook his head. "No, man, i should be apologizing to you. I edged you on, kept bugging you and getting on your nerves. If i had just kept my loud mouth just then you wouldn't have gotten mad." He said, a sad look in his eyes. "I am really sorry Keith."

Pidge smiled. For once they were actually making up. Their 'rivalry' was getting better so that was a plus in Pidge's book. She watched as Keith let a small smile show. Without warning, Keith was up on his hind legs and Pidge sat up in alarm, thinking they were going to fight again. 

What she did not expect, was for Keith to rest his two front limbs around Lance's shoulders, hugging him. Lance looked just as surprised at the awkward cat hug, but smiled and returned it the best he could. Pidge stifled a laugh, not wanting to ruin their bonding moment, but they looked ridiculous. At least they weren't fighting. She could hear a small laugh from Shiro and hunk as well. Allura returned with a large shell looking thing full of water but nearly dropped it at the sight of to giant cats hugging.

Pidge lost it and howled with laughter alongside of Hunk and Shiro. Lance and Keith pushed away quickly, trying to look anywhere but at each other. This only made Pidge laugh more. She felt bad for ruining the moment, but goodness that was funny.

Allura recovered form the shock and sat down near Pidge. "Alright, stop your laughing and let me see your leg." She said, holding back a laugh of her own.

Hours later, the sun had set, leaving a sky full of stars for them to gaze at. Allura had finished cleaning Pidge's wound, but they had come up with nothing to get the dust from her fur. Hunk had given in a while ago and was peacefully grooming himself by the fire, his yellow fur reflecting the firelight and making the whole area glow.

Allura had went to bed, laying on a thin mat by the fire opposite side of Hunk, while Pidge remained in her spot, rolling around trying to get comfy with the dust. Shiro was nearby, grooming each of his feathers. With a sigh of defeat, Pidge gave in as well.

She rolled onto her side and started to lick at on of her paws. To her surprise, it helped. A lot. The fur on her paw looked a much brighter shade of green and looked much fluffier. However the fur looked far from smooth like Hunk had managed to do. Long story short, Pidge found yet another thing she sucked at.

"Need some help?" Shiro asked, walking over to her with slow footsteps. With his size he reached her spot with only a few steps. She kept forgetting how huge he really was. Truly a pride leader.

"Nah, i'm fine, just gotta figure out how to-WHAT THE HECK." Pidge let out a mewl in surprise as Shiro reached over and used his paw to pull her close and hold her down. Casually, he started grooming the top of her head. Pidge fought him at first, but soon gave up as she realized she was to weak to escape the hug of death Shiro had locked her in.

Pidge pouted for a few minutes before realizing that being groomed was similar to someone gently brushing her hair for her. Just like her mom used to before she cut it. Soon, she relaxed in Shiro's grip and he released her. He kept grooming her, moving to her fluffy ears. After a moment longer, she felt herself falling asleep, feeling safe in the father figures arms.

On the other side of the fire, she faintly saw Keith doing the same thing, grooming a sleeping Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oK, SO HEAR ME OUT.  
> I have schedule now. I will update young lions on Sundays and Thursdays


	11. Lost in Instinct

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The path is revealed.

That night, Keith had decided to take first watch, when really he just wanted an excuse to be nice to Lance without anyone looking. Pidge saw through him however. She knew he cared about the blue paladin, despite their obvious differences. They argued and bickered, but when t came down to it they would do anything to make sure the other was alright.

So when she awoke the next morning to find them curled around each other, it was only what she had expected. Lance, being the bigger lion, was behind Keith and the smaller red ball of fluff was laying beside him. the two took the shape of crescent moons as they laid there, sleeping peacefully.

She noticed Hunk was the only one awake other than herself, meaning he was the last one on watch duty. When she went to stand up, Pidge found herself trapped under a heavy mass. Twisting her body to get a better view, she got a face full of white and black fur. Shiro had stayed by her side last night after grooming her to death.

And speaking of the grooming, Shiro had done an excellent job. Her fur was still fluffy, but much smoother and cleaner than before. The dust was no longer stuck under the green layers so she didn't have an annoying itch anymore. Pidge's coat of fluff was much brighter as well, like a fresh layer of paint. 

Twisting back to her first position, she noticed that since Pidge was now beside Shiro, Allura had found a new spot and was leaning against Pidge's flank, with her mat being used as a blanket instead. Had it gotten cold last night? If it had it sure didn't feel like it. Maybe it's because she was so fluffy that temperature didn't bother her.

Not wanting to disturb Shiro or Allura, Pidge merely stayed put. She didn't go back to sleep, she just sat there, lazily flopping her tail against the ground as she enjoyed the early morning view. It was a bit eerie with no birds or animals to fill the sound with noise, but it was still beautiful nonetheless. 

Eventually, Shiro did wake up with a loud yawn that sounded more like a dull roar than a yawn. She got a chance to look at his mouth while it was open, and man that was a lot of very large teeth. 

When he was finished with his yawn he looked down to Pidge, and then noticed Allura. A sleepy smile spread onto his face and Pidge smiled as well. Allura looked very pretty when she was asleep. Peaceful almost.

Pidge nudged Allura awake, and the day was set into motion. Hunk had woken Keith and Lance up, and they immediately scrambled apart. Not mad, just embarrassed.

They cleaned up the clearing and buried the fire pit ashes and made it look as if they had never been there in the first place. When they were ready, Keith said that he should go first considering the humming was in his head and that he had found the place. Shiro agreed. It seemed the best option. Vitea had said the shrines were meant for each paladin, but always one in specific. This one was Keiths.

"Alright, everyone stay close, Allura take the lead with Keith since you have a light. We should be able to see just fine as long as there's a bit of light ahead of us." Shiro said. They all nodded and Allura stepped forward to stand with Keith. He suggested just carrying her, but Allura had her fair share of lion back rides yesterday.

Keith went first with Allura by his side. The opening was wide enough for them to go side by side down the dark stairs so they were followed by Lance and Hunk, with Shiro and Pidge in the back. The staircase wasn't very steep, so it was easy to walk down, but they seemed to go one forever. It got darker and darker with every step they took.

Soon they were engulfed in darkness with only a small white dot behind them. Allura's light was barley enough to let each of them see, but they managed. The shadows seemed to swallow the light, and at some point she had reached over to grasps Keiths fur so she wouldn't stumble or get separated.

After 15 minutes or so of walked, the stairs ended, and a large empty stone walled room stood before them. The ceiling was just tall enough for Shiro, and each of the four walls were bare. The floor was cold beneath Pidge's paws as she moved forward to look around.

"There's.....there's nothing here." She said. The walls were plain grey and made from a thick stone that looked well aged. "It's just a room."

The five lions wandered to different parts of the room, trying to find something, anything. Pidge had moved over to where Allura stood with the light. Together they looked at the stone walls from top to bottom. "I can't find anything. Is this the shrine? Just an empty room?" Allura asked. Pidge shrugged.

"Maybe the trial was just finding it and we already passed?" She suggested. Keith shook his head with a growl of frustration behind her.

"This can't be it!" He said. "Something....something just doesn't feel right." He said, starting to pace a bit, growling in annoyance. Pidge was right. Something just felt off about this place. "Wait, what's this?" He asked, pausing suddenly. Allura pointed her light over to where Keith stood. He was staring at the ground in the corner of the room across from them.

In front of him was a small lump. It was a small circular platform that stood inches out of the ground, making it hard to see at first glance. It was 2 feet wide and had what looked like a paw print on it. It was too large to fit Pidge and too small for Hunk and Shiro, but the claw marks were too long for Lance's paws. It fit Keiths perfectly.

He seemed to think the same thing as he raised his left paw, and set it down on the mark. A perfect match. The circle beneath his paw started to glow a bright red color, and suddenly all of them could hear the humming, even Allura. It was dull, but loud in their ears,

The ground started to shake, and the floor cracked like thin ice. The stone split and fell away underneath the paladins and the princess, and the size were thrown into darkness with a cry of fear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked this chapter! I'm pretty sure you all will love the next chapter. My sister ( Pidge ) helped me come up with the idea for the trial of the shrine!


	12. Follow Your Insticts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trial is revealed.

After the ground fell from underneath Pidge, she was scared. Not just because they were falling, but because she was falling and it was pitch black so she couldn't even see the ground coming, or even if there was any ground at all. So she screamed out of fear, seeing as there was nothing else she could do.

In the midst of her panic, she noticed something gripping to her fur, screaming as well. Allura had been by her when the ground fell, and she had apparently latched onto her soft green fur and didn't seem to be letting go anytime soon. What Pidge found strange however, is that she could hear no else's cries. It was just her and Allura.

Before she could stop screaming long enough to ask Allura, she was slammed into a body of freezing cold water. At least is wasn't the ground. With how long she was falling, it was enough force to sand her pretty deep into the frigid water. After making sure Allura was still holding on, the green lion swam to where she thought 'up' was. She still couldn't see, so it was only a best guess.

With a heave for air, Pidge surfaced. She coughed a few times, expelling water from her lungs and mouth. Allura clung to her back, coughing as well. After the princess caught her breath, she turned on her small light so they could see where they were. Using her paws and back legs, Pidge tread in the water as she looked around. Swimming was easy, surprisingly. 

"Where the heck are we?" Pidge asked as she caught her breath. She quickly used her snout to nudge Allura onto her back so she wasn't sitting in the freezing water. 

"I have n-no idea..." Allura said, shivering as she pointed the light around.

They were sitting in a small underground lake with a dome shaped cave above them. Rocks and stalactites hung from the ceiling, water slowly dripping off of them. The water beneath them was pitch black and didn't seem to have a bottom.

"There." With shaky hands, Allura pointed her light towards one end of the cave. A few yards away, there was a ledge that was out of the water. It looked like there was a small opening that they could walk through.

"Looks like our only option." Pidge said. She quickly swam over, wanting to get Allura and herself out of the freezing cold water. She reached up and grabbed the small ledge, and making sure Allura was held on tight, she hoisted them from the water. Once out, Allura hopped off and shivered. Pidge felt terrible because she could see Allura's breath because of how cold it was.

She shook herself dry quickly and then wrapped herself around Allura. "Before we do anything else, i need to get you warm, alright?" She asked. Allura nodded and let herself be engulfed in the green fluff. 

"Thank y-you, Pidge..." She said wile shivering. They stayed like that for a few minutes until the shivering stopped, and Allura could feel the warmth from Pidge seeping into her own body. "You guys are lucky you have fur-" She said with a laugh. 

Pidge chuckled as well. "I guess being a lion can have it's perks." She said. Allura nodded. Now that she was warm again, she stepped away from Pidge and towards the small opening. It was just being enough for Pidge to wiggle through.

"Well, this is our only option." She said with a sigh. "Let's go." Allura stepped through the hole in the wall and Pidge followed close behind. With Alluras light, they could see where they were going, but it wasn't bright enough for them to stray too far from each other without losing sight of one another. 

Once in the next room, it was more of a tall, narrow hallway than a room. The ceiling was up way above them, at least 50 feet high. The hall was only 7 feet across. Up ahead, the hallway look like it split into three, one going forward, the other going left and right. Allura and Pidge glanced at each other and walked forward. 

At the end of the hallway, Pidge looked own each of the halls. The halls also split.

"It's.......a maze?" Allura asked. Pidge nodded. 

"I think it is. This is the trial, a maze in the dark." She confirmed, looking around. "Which way do we go? How do we even know which way to go?" Pidge questioned. 

"Well, it's an instinct based trial, so i'm guessing you follow your instincts." Allura said with a shrug. Pidge looked doubtful, looking down each of the hallways again. 

"I.... i don't know. Instinct's were never my best area. I figure things out before i do anything. I make sure it's the right answer before i do anything. Instincts? If i had them, iv'e never used them." She said with a frown. 

"Well, maybe that's why the trials are for all of you, so you can use them, learn from them." Allura said, patting her shoulder. "Now, is it alright if you give me a ride? So we don't get separated and so i can keep up with you." Pidge nodded and kneeled on her front legs so Allura could climb on easier. Once situated, Pidge looked at the halls once more, before turning left and walking. 

 

Elsewhere in the shrine, heavy footsteps slammed ad pattered against the ground at a dark figure ran through pitch black halls. It's eyes glowed yellow and red, creating a vivid, haunting orange glow. The creature ran and ran, never stopping or slowing down despite it's burning lungs. It slammed blindly into walls, a burning rage driving it to get up and keep going. Despite not being able to see, it followed a specific pattern as it swerved and turned. 

It was as if an unseen force was driving it mad trying to find something. Someone. Somewhere.

Find it, find it, find them.

Pride, find pride find them

Challenge.

Fight, fight fight,

Kill, kill, kill kill killkillkillkill.

Lead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy~


	13. Fear and Forget

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something happens to Pidge and they finally find someone else!

Pidge had been walking for hours, turning in directions she could only hope were the right way to go. Her feet ached, and she knew they were lost. Instinct? The only thing she felt was hopelessness and the fear of being lost.

"I told you following instincts wasn't my thing." Pidge complained to Allura. "We've been walking for hours now and my feet hurt, and we haven't found anything but more turns and hallways." The princess on her back let out a sigh.

"I know, things aren't looking the best right now, but we have no other choice. We either sit and wait or we try and get out." She said, patting the green furred paladin underneath her. She bobbed side to side as Pidge walked steadily and slowly down the maze hall. Another turn was coming up soon.

"Can we at least take a break?" The green lion asked. Her head was hanging lower than usual. She was hungry, thirsty and very very tired. She stopped at the next split of hallways and stood there for a moment.

Allura could feel Pidge shaking beneath her as she stood there. It wasn't cold in the shrine, so the shivering was from her exhaustion. Allura let out a small sigh and was about to say yes and climb off, but a small figure running right in front of them said otherwise.

The dim light revealed a small mammal looking creature, no larger than a cat running cross the hall in front of them, and bolting around a shadowed turn in the maze.

Pidge's head snapped up, pupils in tight slits. Before Allura had a chance to react or say anything, Pidge was running. With a yelp, Allura clung to the green fur of her friends shoulders. "Pidge what are you doing!?" She yelled as Pidge chased the small animal.

Pidge ignored Allura as the words fell to deaf ear. Her mouth was open in a snarl with curled back lips and pointed teeth showing. Her senses were heightened as she cave chase. The animal weaved around corners, screeching and making rapid turns in an attempt to lose the lion on it's tail. 

"Pidge stop!" The princess yelled. She was barley hanging on and was almost thrown off as Pidge slammed into a wall. And yet Pidge didn't not react.

Her thoughts were gone, every sense locked onto the prey in front of her. She was hungry, weak, and she needed to eat. She needed to hunt.

Catch the animal, and not be hungry anymore,. It was an easy problem with an easy answer.

Run, chase, chase, chase, chase chase chasechasechase KILL!

Pidge made a heavy jump forwards, claws extended to the running creature. She almost made it. A sharp tug to her ear caused her to stumble and miss her catch.

Oh yeah, there was something on her back. With a snarl, she reared back. The figure on her back let loose a small startled yell and hit the floor with a thud. 

Ignoring the escaped animal, Pidge turned around to see what the bother was. Maybe she could eat that instead. In front of her stat a Allura, but she didn't know that. Pidge couldn't remember anything. Only that she was still hungry and that the person in front of her was living, smaller than her, and made of meat.

Person? That didn't sound right. Person isn't food, is it? But, person smelled like food. Person also smell like something else. Familiar.

Pidge slowly stalked closer to the person, her body low to the ground. Person was sitting, slowly scooting backward from Pidge. The lion only stepped closer, each step closing twice the distance that it did. When Pidge was towering right in front of it, she stopped.

"P-Pidge?" The creature stuttered out. "Are you.....ok?" It asked.

Pidge did not expect the creature to start talking, but the noise it made was familiar as well. Friend maybe? To check she sniffed at the closest part of it's body to find out, which was it's leg. The limb twitched a bit and Pidge was surprised the small creature hadn't stood up and run away yet.

The person smelled familiar, but another scent was there. A much more familiar scent. One of a close friend. Of her leader. The winged lion. The pride leader. Where was her pride? Why was she hunting alone? And why was this person with her and smelling of her leader?

"Can you.....understand me? Pidge? Do you know who i am? It's me, Allura." It asked. Pidge had no idea what the creature was trying to tell her, but if it belonged to leader, then she wouldn't harm it. "Pidge? Blink if you can understand me."

No reaction came from Pidge as they both stood there, looking at each other. "Ok then. You don't remember me. I think-" Pidge watched as the person stood up slowly. Suddenly it's eyes widened.

"Whatever happened to Keith when he snapped at Lance, i think that's what happened to you." It said. Pidge didn't know what that mean. The sound 'Keith' and 'Allura' had sounded familiar though. "The temple is messing with you, tapping into you....instincts, i guess." Suddenly the person smiled. "Now that your instincts have fully taken over, and you seem to not want to hurt me, i guess we can get out of this maze." 

'Allura' stepped closer a bit to quickly and Pidge growled. The Altean stopped and slowly extended a hand. Pidge stopped growling and sniffed at the hand in front of her.

After seeing that Allura was not a threat, she bumped her forehead against the hand with a purring noise. Allura laughed a bit and pet behind Pidge's fluffy ears. The green furred lion flopped over onto the ground, enjoying the scratches.

"Well, i guess you being like an animal isn't that bad, considering you're a very lovable animal-" Allura commented with a small laugh, continuing to pet the fluffy lion. It was a bit weird, considering she was petting Pidge, but Pidge wasn't there right now. There was just a really cuddly lion laying in her lap.

"Uhm, do i even want to ask?" A voice said from in front of them. Pidge was suddenly on her feet, standing over Allura and growling with a hint of a snarl and bared teeth.

In front of them, stood Lance with a confused expression graced on his face. But Lance being there was not the only shock. 

He had blood on his mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the late chapter as promised!


	14. Hunger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friends are reunited!

"Lance?" Allura asked to the blue lion standing before them, blood staining the lighter fur around his maw. "What happened?" She pointed at him with her light to get a better look at him. It didn't look like he was hurt, instead he looked rather confused.

"Well, when the floor collapsed i was dropped into a pool of water and no one else was there so-" He started to say, looking at Pidge nervously. She was still growling. "Pidge are you ok?" He asked.

"Whatever happened to Keith outside of the temple has happened to her. I don't think she recognizes you." Allura explained. Lance slowly nodded. 

"Soooo, what do i do to get her to stop growling at me." He asked.

"Try to look friendly and non threatening. I don't think the blood on your face is helping, however." The princess said. Lance looked further confused.

"Blood? What blood?" He asked. Pidge snarled at him. Lance locked eyes with her. His family used to have a really mean cat back in Cuba, so he had a small idea of what to do to calm Pidge down. Slowly, Lance lowered himself to the ground, laying down front legs first. After a moment, he lowered his back half as well, fully laying down. 

Pidge stopped snarling and her growls got quieter as she became interested in what Lance was doing. He layed there for a moment before lowering his head as well, blinking slowly.

Allura had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing ans Lance rolled over, exposing his light blue fur covered belly. Pidge stopped growling, and slowly walked over to him. She sniffed at one of his paws before recognizing him. At least a bit. 

She backed away a bit and flopped lazily on her side next to Allura when she realized Lance wasn't a threat. 

"Speak of this to no one-" Lance said to Allura. She chuckled a bit. "Anyhow, you said something about blood on my face?" He asked when she quit laughing. 

"Yes. You have red all around your mouth. Did you bite something, or someone?" She asked. Lance shook his head. 

"No, not that i know of. I've been alone for a few hours until i found you guys." He shrugged. "I do think i blacked out at some point. Because about an hour ago i woke up on the floor, but i don't remember falling asleep at any point." The lion explained. "Maybe i hit my head during the fall?"

Allura shook her head, going back to petting Pidge. "I think whatever happened to Keith and Pidge might have happened to you, you just don't remember it." The fluffy lion cub had decided to take a quick nap, her earlier exhaustion catching up with her. The princess couldn't really blame her. She was a bit tired as well. But they had to keep moving.

"Maybe." He said. "What made Pidge lose it though? Because the last thing i remember is hearing something." Lance said. 

"She saw an animal and started chasing it. I think she was hungry. Might still be hungry." Allura replied, looking at Pidge's sleeping form. 

"Now that you do mention it, i think i may have eaten whatever Pidge was after, because i'm not hungry, and i should be. It would also explain the blood on my face. So yeah, you might be right about that." The blue furred lion stated. Allura nodded. 

"So to get Pidge back to normal, we have to get her something to eat." She said, scratching between Pidges ears. She was only hungry, that's all. So that meant they had to get up and keep walking. Lance realized this as well, slowly rising to his feet. Pidge woke up from her small cat nap when she heard movement, and stretched with a yawn. 

Her ears flicked lazily as Allura stood up beside her. And without warning, she started walking. Lance and Allura hurried to follow the green fuzzball. She seemed to know exactly where she was going.

"Ok, lead the way i guess." Lance said, walking close behind Pidge. At some point he let Allura climb onto his back so she didn't have to jog to keep up with them. And so they walked, two lions and an Altean in a creepy underground maze in an ancient shrine.

The trio walked for a few hours, following Pidge. As they walked she got slower and slower, her hunger making her a bit weak. Lance felt bad for her, but there was nothing they could do but keep walking and hope to stumble across another animal. 

Unfortunately they didn't find anything for Pidge to eat, but they did find a massive dome shaped room. And waaaay above them, a small light. An opening in the roof of the cave. 

"Is that the way out?" Lance asked to no one in particular. "Because i don't think i can jump that high." He stated. Pidge walked to the center of the room and sat down, as if waiting for something.

Allura walked over to join her. Using her light, she looked around, but saw nothing other than the floor and other openings to the maze. Was this the center of the shrine? It must have been. 

And suddenly, Hunk was there. A ball of yellow fur flopping out of one of the openings.

"Hunk! My man! You found us!" Lance said, running over to him. Hunk saw him and smiled. The two ran at each other and barreled into a massive hug. 

"Oh man oh man oh man i can't believe i found you guys!" Hunk said happily. So he was still normal, that was good. "How did you guys get here!?" He asked. Lance broke away from the hug and pointed to Allura and Pidge.

"The shrine kinda messed with Pidges head, and i ran into them after a while. Pidge just started walking and we followed her here. She's acting like an actual lion, so i have no idea what she's doing." Lance explained.

"Well, as fun as that sounds i have one heck of a story to tell you guys." A deep voice said behind them. They turned around and Shiro was standing on the opposite and of the room.


	15. Challenger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone get's reunited! Kind of.

“Shiro!” Allura said, walking over to him briskly. “You made it!” She stated happily. The princess stopped when she noticed his wings. Shiro’s majestic feathers were out of alignment and looked a bit mangled. A few were even missing and some had a bit of blood on the.

“What happened to you?” Lance asked, walking over to Shiro while Hunk went to greet Pidge. He ended up doing what Lance had done, showing he wasn’t a threat and rolling over.

“Well, Keith happened.” He stated simply. “It’s like he was…...possessed or something. I’m not sure. But i was walking and he jumped out of nowhere and landed right on my back.” He explained. “He started biting and clawing. I didn’t want to hurt him so i flung him off and ran. Then i found you guys.”

Allura looked over to Hunk and Pidge. “Something similar happened to Lance and Pidge, but Pidge has yet to snap out of it.” She explained. “So has a more docile nature then Keith does, so she didn’t attack me or anyone else. I’m pretty sure the shrine is what’s causing them to go feral, however.” She informed him. Shiro nodded.

“That was my guess too. But now we have to find out how to get out of here. And find Keith.” The winged lion said. He then looked to Lance. “How did you get back to normal after you were feral?” He asked.

“I’m not a hundred percent sure, but right before i turned, i was reeeeaaally really hungry. Apparently i ate something and now i’m back like this. My best guess is whatever your instincts are trying to tell you, do it and you’ll turn back. That’s why Pidge is still feral. He hasn’t eaten anything in 2 or 3 days now.” The blue furred lion explained.

“That would make sense. But how did you find something to eat? The scan from the castle said the only living things here were the plants.”

“Well, there was the giant bug thing.” Lance pointed out. “And the thing i ate. So the scans were obviously wrong. Which might also be why we can’t locate the fifth shrine.” He said, sitting down.

Everyone hummed in agreement. “So, what now?” Hunk asked. Pidge had decided to take yet another nap, this time curled up against Hunk’s side. Lance let out a soft ‘Aw’ at how cute it was.

“Well, the most we can do is sit here and wait for Keith, and then go from there. Maybe he found something to hunt and reverted back like Lance did.” But they could only hope.

It took an hour before anything interesting happened.

Pidge sat up, suddenly fully awake, fur raised with a low hiss and growl coming from her mouth. Hunk Lance and Shiro were on their feet as well, confused.

A loud roar coming from one of the maze openings answered her growl. She suddenly dropped her ears out of fear and tucked her tail between her legs. She turned around and ran over to Shiro before cowering underneath him for protection. Hunk seemed a bit nervous and Allura stood by him, getting her weapon out.

“Wait, i think that’s Keith.” Shiro said. Lance squinted in the dimly lit room, be he backed off when he saw a pair of glowing eyes down the black shadow filled hallway. They were a bright shade of red-orange and they had thin black slits in the center.

The eyes moved forwards, and sure enough, in the darkened room, there stood Keith. His fur was a deeper shade of red than it had been when they were in the daylight, and ragged like he had been in a few fights.

What Allura was most concerned about, was the fact that the golden red eyes were locked right onto Shiro. And the gaze he had was not a friendly one.

He stepped forwards and let loose another roar that was amplified by the echoing cave walls and ceiling. Pidge cowered back further, bumping into Shiro’s back legs.

“Keith.” Shiro said firmly, his own fur raising a bit, making him look bigger than he already was. “I know you’re in there somewhere.” He said, taking a step closer to the raging fuzzball. Keith only hissed and growled at him.

When Shiro moved, Pidge cowered near Lance instead. He let her, a bit frightened himself. Keith nearly killed him the last time he was like this. Hunk had backed up to where he was behind Lance.

“Are they going to fight?” The yellow lion asked to the princess.

“I hope not.” She said. “But i think that’s what’s going to happen.”

Shiro took another step closer, now only a few yards away from Keith. “Stand down, please. I don’t want to fight you.” He said, keeping a calm level headed voice. One more step closer.

And Keith snapped. With a screeching yowl, the red lion leaped at Shiro, aiming for his neck. Shiro luckily saw it coming and used his wings to push himself backwards before dodging to the right.

The two had dueled together for years, so they knew each other’s tactic like the back of their hand. But Keith was no longer the one in control. He was fighting dirty.

Shiro made one slip up, one tiny mistake, and Keith bit down onto Shiro’s shoulder, and pulled. With surprising strength, Keith threw Shiro to the ground, ramming the larger lion’s head into the hard ground. The impact stunned the older lion, causing him to go limp

Keith growled as he backed off for a second, making sure Shiro wouldn’t get up. After he seeing Shiro was down for good, struggling weakly to move, he stalked forwards. When he was close enough to attack, Keith reared up and dove to drive his teeth right into the soft flesh of Shiro’s throat.

He never made it.

Out of nowhere, Pidge came jumping to the rescue by running over and ramming right into Keith’s side, sending him sprawling across the floor. With a snarl the small lion cub moved to stand in front of Shiro, hissing angrily. “Don’t…..touch him-” She growled. Pidge had come to her senses on her own.

Moments later, Hunk and Lance joined her, standing by her side. They wouldn;t hurt Keith, but they wouldn’t let Keith hurt their leader either.

The red lion stood, growling fiercely, but he didn’t move to attack. He only glared, letting loose a blood curdling snarl. Pidge flinched a bit, but didn’t move otherwise. Behind them, Allura took care of Shiro.

Keith took a single step forward and let loose a long roar which died down into a growl. Though he said no words, the message had been clear.

Get out of my way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR 100 KUDOS, THAT'S THE MOST IV'E EVER HAD ON ANY OF MY STORIES. YOU GUYS ARE SO GREAT I LOVE YOU ALL THANK YOU!


	16. Protect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Keith snap out of it? Or will someone get hurt?

Pidge didn't know what she was doing, to say the least. She knew she had to protect Shiro, but against Keith? It was a death wish for sure. Pidge knew she wasn't that strong or that fast, but she had to at least try. Her leader, her friend, basically her role model, his life was at stake here. This was no time to chicken out or back down. 

"Keith, come on you gotta snap out of this." She said, voice wavering a bit. Her recently strengthened instincts were screaming at her to run, but yet she stood firm. "This isn't like you, you would never try to hurt Shiro. This isn't you!" She tried, adding a small growl to her voice.

Despite her yellow and blue friends by her side, Pidge was terrified. She saw how easily he took down Shiro, so next to that she was just a moving target. 

The dark red lion only growled, but didn't move forward. Why hadn't he attacked them yet? Was he waiting for them to attack first? That might be it. Keith was usually the first one to attack but this was different. He wasn't Keith right now. He was a very ticked of animal.

Lance decided to make the first move, jumping forward with a roar and swiping at him, missing only by a few inches. He didn't want to hurt Keith. He just wanted him to back off and away from Shiro. 

Keith reacted immediately and slammed his paws into the ground letting out a roar of his own. Lance wasn't fazed this time and only growled. Keith suddenly ran to Lances left and tried to run around him.

Surprised, Lance scrambled to move in front of him again so he couldn't get to Shiro. Why didn't he just attack Lance so he wasn't in the way anymore?

Luckily Allura had figured it out. "It's the shrine. It's driving him to challenge Shiro and take over the group!" She explained. The princess had her hands pressed over Shiro's wound to stop the bleeding.

"So what do we do?" Pidge asked as Lance continued to block Keith. 

"Find some way to snap him out of it." She said.

"And how do we do that!?" Hunk asked in a panicked voice. He was itching to run the other way and hide. Hunk was a lover, not a fighter, so whenever Keith roared, he flinched.

Keith let out a frustrated growl. Lance was fast. But he was much master. Keith made it look like he was going to jump left, but when Lance moved to block him Keith crouched and then jumped clear over Lance's head. 

He landed only inches in front of Hunk and the yellow lion yelped, turning around and bolting to hide. Now only Pidge was left to defend Shiro. And she refused to let Keith win.

Pidge growled and made herself look as big as she could, trying to scare Keith. It obviously didn't work. He only growled right back. Behind them, Shiro spoke.

"Pidge, t-take Allura.....and go......" He said, attempting to stand up. He made it to his feet, wings drooping at his sides. Pidge didn't budge. "Go." He said more firmly. Allura didn't move either. 

Keith backed off just a bit when Shiro stood up, but he didn't run. His fight wasn't over yet. He didn't want to stand down. But the shrine had other ideas.

Suddenly the floor beneath their feet started to crack and split open. All of them abandoned the fight to step away from the growing cracks that were spreading like veins. Even Keith moved away so he wouldn't be on a crack.

A loud rumble filled the dim room and echoed down the black hallways and the entire shrine shook. A hole cracked open on the far end of the room, and magma started spill out.

"The shrine is a volcano!" Hunk shouted. When the heck did he get up on the wall? "We have to get out of here, and fast!" the yellow lion bellowed, starting to climb up. Pidge hadn't realized it, the walls of the cave weren't smooth, and had various holes and rocks jutting out to make it climbable. 

"To the walls!" Pidge hollered. She ran over and helped Shiro limp over to the nearest wall. Once there, he started climbing. Close behind followed Lance, jumping up and climbing the wall easily. Behind her, Keith started to scale the wall as well. He hadn't snapped out of his animalistic state yet so that was a bummer.

Unfortunately, Pidge couldn't reach a lot of the spots to grab onto so she was slower than the others. And the floor was cracking open even more, the oozing orange liquid slowly bubbling out and rising. The heat in the room had increased ten fold and Pidge could feel her fur start to singe. 

She started to panic. The others were almost to the top where the light and the hole was. If she didn't hurry she would be killed and they wouldn't even realize it till they got out of this damned maze.

Out of nowhere the shrine shook, and a rock beneath her paw broke free. With a terrified cry, Pidge slid down the wall a few feet, stopping just below the rising magma. She could feel the tears on her face turn into nothing but steam. She didn't want to die today.

Across the room. Keith roared from a ledge that he had found. He was roaring at her, not Shiro. Pidge glanced to look at Keith and saw that he was looking for a way to get over to where she was without falling into the molten rocks. 

Even if he had found a spot there was no way he would make the jump. Or at least that what Pidge thought. Above them, Shiro, Allura, Hunk and Lance made it out through the opening in the ceiling. That left Pidge and Keith alone.

Above her was a small ledge, the one she had slipped from only moments ago. Keith gathered his feet underneath him, and jumped. With a growl, he soared above the magma and right above Pidge. By some crazy miracle, he made it and pulled himself onto the small ledge. Pidge looked up only to cry out in pain as a bubble popped under her and a stray droplet splashed her tail.

Keith let out a pitiful whine and stuck his paw over the edge to try and paw at her. She wasn't close enough to reach. Was he trying to help her or attack her?

With no time left to decide, Pidge made the leap of faith and jumped as hard as she could. And Keith answered the call, opening his mouth and leaning down to catch her. And he barley made it.

Keith used his teeth and caught her by the scruff, and pulled her onto the ledge with him.


	17. Gift of Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trial is passed!

Pidge nearly fell to the ground in exhaustion when Keith pulled her up and onto the ledge with him, but they weren't safe yet. Naps could wait. Keith looked tired as well, but the wild animal look was still in his eyes. 

The two scaled up the rest of the wall with relative ease, and climbed into the opening the others had gone through only moments ago. There was light coming from the hole so Pidge expected them to emerge into the outdoors under the sunlight.

But it was just another room. The others saw them and let out sighs of relief. Shiro seemed a bit nervous with Keith standing there, but the red lion made no move to attack him again. His gaze was fixed on the source of the light. 

On the other end of the small room, there was a pedestal with a large round orb that glowed a bright red and orange. It pulsed, almost as if it had a heartbeat of it's own. 

But then Pidge heard it. From Keith. The heartbeat was matched with his exactly. Pidge even leaned closer to Keith to make sure she wasn't just going crazy. 

The sleek furred lion stepped forward towards the glowing orb, heartbeat slowly getting faster the closer he got. Pidge looked behind them through the opening they had all climbed into, and the magma was still getting closer. And the room they were in was a dead end with no openings. Just them, and the orb.

"Guys, what do we do now?" Pidge asked, getting more nervous as the magma started rise faster with the heartbeat. It was now loud enough to where they could feel the pulsing in their own bodies. Pidge backed away from the hole once the heat became too much and she cowered near Shiro. Lance and Hunk had sandwiched Allura between them and stood far away from the opening in the small room as they could.

Shiro stood by them, watching Keith. The smaller lion was now standing right next to the pedestal, staring at the orb with wide eyes. His eyes reflected the same color of the sphere, glowing brightly with the fell flames of the fire that was waiting to consume them all any minute. So whatever Keith was doing, he needed to hurry or they'd all be toast.

Slowly, Keith leaned forward and touched the tip of his snout to the glowing orb.

The orb shattered into a million tiny glowing pieces and scattered into the air all around the room. A few of them got near Pidge and she shrieked. They were hot. Very hot. The small shard of the orb started moving, circling around Keith. Behind them all, the magma reached the opening and started to spill into the room, casting en even brighter glow across the room.

Suddenly the tiny shards shot right into Keith, burrowing under his fur and into his skin. He let out a roar of pain that sounded more like a cry of a human than anything. For a moment, he sounded like Keith.

Before any of the other lions could react or go to help him, a bright white light filled the room, nearly blinding them all. Pidge suddenly felt the world shift around her as gravity flipped around and she felt like she was falling. Due to the blinding light she had squeezed her eyes shut so she had no idea where she was being thrown.

Unlike the last time she fell, she could hear everyone falling with her this time. But similar to the first fall, their landing was a massive pool of water. 

Not able to catch a breath before the water, she hurried to swim up. When she broke the surface with a gasp, it was out of needing breath and out of surprise. They were outside. In front of her, stood the volcano they were just in, erupting and spewing magma everywhere. Luckily they had been thrown far enough to where they were safe. 

Something grabbed onto her fur and tugged. The lion turned and expected to see Allura, but there was Keith. Her jaw dropped out of shock and surprise.

He was human again.

"Keith you're not a lion anymore!" She blurted. Quickly she doggy paddled to the shore with him still hanging on. The poor guy looked half dead with how soaked he was. He looked dead tired too.

The other soon followed, hauling themselves out of the water and shaking the moisture from their fur. Allura, who had hitched a ride from Shiro, hopped down and rushed over to Keith. Pidge went to ask him a million questions, but he seemed to have passed out, leaning against her side.

"Wait he's human!?" Lance exclaimed, running over and nudging Keiths hand with his face. "Is he ok? Oh god i can't tell if he's breathing-" The blue lion looked ready to have a panic attack. Allura pushed Lance's face away and checked for a pulse on Keith. 

"He's fine, just unconscious." The princess declared. Numerous sighs could be heard from the pride of lions. "It might be in our best interest to head back to the castle before seeking out the second shrine." Allura stated. The others were quick to nod. Sleep and food also sounded like a great idea.

"I'll carry him." Lance stated. Pidge and Shiro were to beat up and weak to carry anyone at this point, and Hunk decided to carry Allura this time. Lucky for them, the volcano shot them closer to the castle then they had originally thought.

"Now let's get back and find out what the hell just happened." Pidge stated as she got to her feet. The others nodded. Vitea had said something about a gift from each shrine, but all they had gotten was a face full of lava and hurt.

"Do you think the rest of the shrines will be that hard?" Hunk asked as Allura hopped on. Lance bowed his head and Pidge nudged Keith onto the blue lions back. Together they all started walking, the sun setting behind them.

"Sweet mother of quiznak i hope not." Pidge replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might not be able to add a chapter on Sunday this weekend! It may have to wait until Monday!


	18. Relax

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for a small break and some lunch-

Allura had managed to use the tracker in her suit to signal Coran to their location so none of them would have to walk all they way back to the castle. In their current conditions, none of them would have made it. They were all tired and hungry, and some of them were injured. Shiro was beat up pretty bad, Pidge's leg was still messed up from the weird bug before the shrine and her tail was singed, and Keith was out like a light.

So it was a relief when Coran showed up. "What in the name of King Groggery the third happened to you!?" he had asked when they all stepped into the castle. While they were gone he had set up large beds for each of them in the hangers since it was the only place they fit.

"Well, we found the shrine, and the trial was a bit harder than we originally though it would be-" Allura stated, hopping from hunks back before walking over to Lance and gently pulling Keith down. "Keith reverted back to human after he touched some weird orb thing. I want him in a healing pod just to be safe." 

"What about Pidge and Shiro? They won't exactly fit in a pod." Lance stated. Coran took Keith from Allura and went to speak.

"I can bring some of the medical supplies down here to the hangers but your healing process will have to happen naturally for now." He stated before leaving to go put Keith in a cryo pod. 

"I'll head to the food storage and see if i can't find something for you guys. I'm assuming since you're all lions that you have a strict carnivore diet." She looked to Lance who still had a bit of blood from whatever he had eaten while he was feral and he bowed his head with a sheepish grin. Allura only let out a small 'tsk' noise before leaving the room.

Shiro let out a pained sigh and flopped onto one of the cushion piles Coran had made. Pidge had the same idea, but rearranged her pile to more of a nest shape before flopping, happy to get the weight off of her leg. Lance and Hunk decided to share for warmth and flopped on top of each other onto a pile.

"So, what shrine do you think will be next?" Lance asked. Pidge shrugged, wincing a bit at the pain in her shoulders. 

"I dunno. I'm going to take a wild guess and say Hunk." She commented. Hunk cringed a bit.

"I don't want to go through a trial like that again, that sucked! I don't want to be all feral either. Keith was really scary like that!" Hunk said, rolling onto his stomach so Lance was flopped across his back.

"If the trials are based off of each paladin and their lion, yours might be to hug as many people as you can in 5 minutes." Shiro said. His eyes were closed and he looked dead tired. He was laying on his side with with wings and legs sprawled out haphazardly around him. They all nodded in agreement to his statement.

Soon Coran returned pushing a hovering cart of various medical supplies and small machines. He pushed the cart near a wall and a wide table slid out of the wall. "Alright, who's first?" He asked, spreading the supplies across the table. 

"My leg was mostly taken care of by Allura, and Shiro's wounds are fresh so he can go first." Pidge almost laughed at the look of 'nope' on their leaders face. He stood up quickly, almost falling back over.

"No, nonono, you first Pidge. I am responsible for all of you over myself. You go first." He insisted. As a reply, Pidge buried herself in pillows so only her face and tail could be seen.

"Nah, i'm good." She said with a defiant smirk. Shiro rolled his eyes.

"Fine, but only because it would suck to come over there and drag you out of that pile." The winged lion said as he walked over to where Coran had set up. They started with the wounds near his neck and torso, stitching the cuts and bite marks shut before applying bandages to them.

Pidge at some point got curious and wandered over to them to watch, but she couldn't get a good view of the larger lions wings. Luckily for her, Coran didn't seem to care all that much when she hopped up onto the table for a better vantage point.

But she got distracted. Something shiny caught her gaze and she locked onto it, tail tapping a bit. A small metal tool was reflecting some of the blue lighting off of it. Pidge reached out and tapped at with her paw, sliding it across the table a bit.

"Hunk look at Pidge-" Lance said quietly from across the room. He was trying so hard not to laugh. She looked like a giant house cat.

Eventually Pidge got bored with the tool and with a small growl, she smacked it off the table with her paw. It hit the cround with a loud 'ping' and Coran whirled around to look at her.

"Number five stop playing around with the medical supplies!" He scolded. She froze, looking his directly in the eyes. The two sat like that for a moment. Coran had one eyebrow raised as he pointed at her, as if daring her to do it again.

And she did, numerous times. With a playful meow she started knocking more stuff from the table, enjoying the little game. Coran tried catching everything before it hit the floor and it was hilarious. Hunk and Lance were howling with laughter at the mustached mans attempts to beat Pidge at her own game while Shiro just sat there with an exasperated look on his face.

When Allura came back with food, all of them were enjoying the show too much to even notice. As some point hhe had even joined Coran in trying to catch the supplies.

They ended up failing miserably.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The house cat scene you all asked for! I hope you enjoyed!


	19. Fun and Food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team takes a break.

After Coran and Allura managed to get Pidge off of the table, everyone was laughing. Genuine laughs. Even Shiro joined in on the golden moment. It was fun. The laughter seemed to melt away the shrine they had barley escaped from so the meed was much better then it had been only minutes ago. Simply because Pidge was acting like a cat.

"Alright alright paladins, calm down." Coran stated, trying no to laugh himself. "I still have medical things to do." He said as Allura helped him put things back on the table. Pidge had returned to her pillow pile for now with a sigh and a huge smile. While she did that Coran finished up on patching up Shiro's wounds And Allura showed what food she thought would satisfy them.

Hunk perked up. "They kind of look like steaks." He said. "Are they raw? I'm not sure how i feel about eating raw meat-" The yellow lion said with a cringe. Pidge knew that Hunk was all about food and cooking so kind of felt bad for him.

"Hunk, we're lions. We're supposed to eat raw meat." Lance said. "As gross as it sounds, I've already done it once. I don't remember it happening though-" That made him worry more.

"Hey Coran is there anyway we could get something that's well, cooked?" He asked. Coran looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Pidge had almost forgotten that he couldn't understand them. Only Allura could. She faintly wondered if Keith would be able to understand them. It would really suck if he couldn't.

Allura nodded to answer the mustached mans question. "We could, yes, but i feel it best to try raw first since lions are typically raw meat eaters." She stated. Shiro nodded.

"Let's go with that then. And if we can't stomach it, we'll try something else." The winged lion said, walking back his pillow pile. Allura nodded and Coran still looked confused as heck. Instead of asking questions he motioned Pidge over and she walked to him and flopped down beside the table. It was her turn now. 

Coran set out to replace the ratted bandages on her left first, cutting the old material away and properly cleaning the cut. It looked better then it had before, so that was good. That meant it healed correctly. Coran applied some disinfectant goo before putting on a fresh bandage, and moved onto her burnt tail.

"Here you go!" Allura said, giving her a good sized chunk of meet on a small mat in front of her. The green lion lowered her snout and sniffed at it. It didn't smell bad, really, but it didn't smell good either. It was just, plain. She could definitely smell the blood and she felt her stomach growl.

With no other option for now, she leaned forward and bit into the slab of meat. And honestly, it didn't taste that bad. She actually could barley taste anything at all. But the frustrating part was that she couldn't just bit off a piece like normal food. With a growl, she put a paw on one half of the meat and pulled with her teeth, trying to tear a piece off. She looked over and saw the others try the same thing.

It worked, but it was a bit messy. Hunk seemed queezy at the blood, but seeing as he had no other choice for now he dug in as well. Allura watched with wide eyes. Right now, as the paladins ate, they looked like they could be nothing more than wild animals back from a hunt. It was actually a bit scary. Coran seemed unfazed for now as he patched up Pidge's tail.

Occasionally her tail would flop away from him on it's own and he had to chase it down. Eventually he just sat down on her tail to keep it from moving. That caused the princess to laugh.

"Well, i'm going up to the control room for now to see which shrine is the next closest to us. Get some rest while i do so." Allura said before leaving. Soon after she left, Coran finished his work on the green lion cubs tail and went to help her, leaving the now full paladins to nap for a bit.

And they did just that, all getting comfy. Pidge ended up trying to groom herself yet again to get the bits of blood from her paws. She managed to clean herself, but her fur looked like a matted mess. By now Lance and Hunk were a sleeping ball of fluff, snoring rather loudly now they they were full.

Shiro was nudging at his wings, letting out a small whine at the bandages. They didn't look very comfortable but it was the best they could do for now.

"You doing ok?" Pidge asked from where she lay. He let out a small growl of frustration.

"No not really. I don't really like how the bandages are sitting between my flying feathers-" He complained, stretching out his wing and folding it. The bandages got in the way and made several feathers look crooked and out of place, causing him to growl again.

"Try just leaving your wing open." Pidge suggested. He tried that. The feathers straightened out.

"It helps, but now it's cold." He said. Man, as a lion Shiro had a lot to complain about. Pidge let out a sigh and padded over to him. Once there she slid under his wing and flopped by his side. This was much comfier. "Ok i guess that works." Shiro stated. "Because now i can do this without you running off!"

Before Pidge could escape, Shiro had trapped her in a death hug and started grooming her. She had fallen for his tick and now she could do nothing to escape. "No you traitor I trusted you-" She said with a playful and defiant growl. The to of them wrestled a bit, careful of each others wounds.

By the time they had finished their little play fight, Pidge had been fully cleaned and groomed, fur much softer looking than before. The two had fallen asleep rather quickly after that. Full, warm, comfy and happy.

And Pidge discovered that animals could dream too.


	20. Wandering Souls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WHOOPS. I TYPED THE CHAPTER BIT I FORGOT TO POST IT LAST NIGHT. SORRY.

After they had been well rested, fed, and healed, Allura notified them the next nearest shrine wasn't to far away. Coran had decided it best to just land the castle right next to the shrine so they wouldn't half to walk far like last time. They had no way of telling which shrine it was until they got there, so that sucked.

        By now Keith had finished resting in the healing pods and had decided to go with them, despite not being a lion anymore. Lance had offered him a piggyback ride, but he declined, claiming he could just walk since the shrine was closer this time. Pidge couldn't help but notice how Keith also avoided standing near or looking at Shiro. He probably remembered what happened in the shrine. The green lion could tell he felt bad.

        Also, good news, Keith could understand the lions when they spoke. Coran was just unlucky.

        "So, 10 gak says it's Pidge's shrine." Lance stated. Hunk nodded in agreement. They were all trying to guess who would be next and what the shrine would be about and what the trial would be.

        Keith shrugged. "I'm going to say it's probably Hunks." He guessed. Pidge agreed with the moody teen. All of them figured Shiro's would be the last, hidden shrine since he was the team leader, so it was a debate between blue green and yellow.

        The hanger doors opened before them and they all stepped out into the warm sunlight of the early morning. Pidge immediately wanted to lay down and bask in the sunlight, but they had a mission to do.

        Lucky for them the shrine was easy to spot. A simple stone building that sat upon a hill surrounded with various flowers. 

        "Yup, definitely Hunks." Keith commented in a matter of fact tone. Lance only groaned and rolled his eyes. 

        "Flowers prove nothing, mullet. By the way, the 80's called, they want their haircut back." The aqua colored lion stated with an evil smirk. Keith kicked his leg. Not enough to hurt but enough to send a message to the thick headed bluenette.

        Hunk took the lead just in case. "I mean, i don't feel anything. I definitely like how this place looks though. It seems nice." He said as they walked up the hill though the flowers. The floral plants came in many colors, mostly blue yellow red and green though. There were a few stray pink ones too. Pidge made a mental note to pick some later.

        The group soon arrived to the top of the hill where the massive stone building was. Pidge was surprised to find it mostly in ruins, but it was just one large room. No trap, no stairs to the underground, nothing. Just crumbling stone walls and half a ceiling covered in vines and flowers.

        Hunk still in the lead, the group walked into the fallen building and spread out to look for anything useful. Like a hidden entrance or something.

        The only thing Pidge found was numerous statues of little alien looking dudes with ceramic bowls in from of them. Some had wilted flowers while others were empty. "I thought this planet was uninhabited?" Pidge asked to Allura, who was currently walking beside her, looking at the statues that were only knee height to her. 

        "Well, there was some writing over by the door that said something about a cemetery for elders. I'm assuming that people from other planets came here to bury their leaders." The princess explained. Pidge nodded. That seemed to make the most sense.

        After about a half an hour of looking and finding nothing, the group was ready to give up for now.

        "This doesn't make sense. The shrine is a cemetery? What are we supposed to do at a cemetery?" Keith asked to no one in particular. Shiro shrugged, shaking out his giant wings. They ached from being folded so every now and then he would randomly fluff up like a parrot. Pidge was kind of jealous. She always wondered what it would be like to fly with wings.

        "Well, i'm going to assume this is Hunk's shrine, so let's start with that." Pidge stated, sitting down on the cobblestone floor. "He i the paladin of kindness. He has a big heart. How would you test someone's kindness?" She asked. 

        "I have no idea." Hunk stated.

        "Well, we better figure it out soon or i'm just going to head to the next shrine." Lance commented, plopping down on a pile of flowers. The movement caused petals to go flying everywhere, a ton of them getting stuck in Keiths hair. That caused Pidge to laugh a bit.

        "Holy grow, guys i found it!" Lance announced, hopping to his feet. Pidge hurried over to him and sure enough there was a paw shape engraved into the stone in front of him. It had been buried in flowers, that's why they couldn't find it.

        "Hey it is mine!" Hunk said with a smile, trotting over to them. "Wait, am i gonna go feral like Keith did?" He asked, stepping back.

        "I would assume not. Your trial is kindness, not instinct like Keiths was." The princess commented as she moved to stand by Shiro. The mention of his shrine and Keith deflated a bit, shrinking back. 

        "Let's not mention that-" The red paladin stated. Everyone silently agreed. Pidge was still kind of curious as to why even in his animalistic state, Keith had abandoned his chase with Shiro to come save her.

        "Well, let's do this i guess." Hunk said as he stepped forward. With a grimace, he placed his paw on the groove in the floor. At first, nothing happened. Hunk raised an eyebrow in confusion and and was about to pull away when the wind picked up, and flowers went flying in the strong breeze. They all gasped in amazement as the floor glowed yellow and the flowers spiraled around them in a perfect circle.

        As soon as all flowers were air born, the statues started to glow a bright blue, mixing with the yellow, and one my one, spirits arose from the statues. Many of them appeared to be different species, all transparent and ghost like as they floated form the stone.

        They wall watched with dropped jaws as they settled down, sitting on the stones they had emerged from. The wind died down and the flower petals rested on the floor around the statues, leaving a mostly clear floor towards the center where a tribal pattern was carved into the rock.

        "Greetings, paladin of heart. We have long awaited your arrival." They spirits spoke.


	21. Beautiful Sadness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asking nicely can be very helpful!

Pidge stared, jaw dropped when the ghostly figure rose from beneath the stone statues and hovered in the pale sunlight that filtered through the crumbling roof. Her first thought was 'What the hell' and er next was 'Holy quiznak ghosts are real'. She didn't say it out loud in fear of offending said ghosts. 

Hunk however look more amazed and a bit frightened than anything. "Me?" He asked. 

"You are the yellow paladin are you not? I see Vitea as already started your trial." One of the spirits said. Hunk nodded. "Well, we welcome you. I presume you are here for the shrine and the sacred gift?" They asked.

"Yes, we are." Shiro said, stepping forwards. "What exactly is the trial for this shrine?" He asked. The spirit chuckled and shook their head. 

"It wouldn't be much of a trial if we just gave you the answer now would it?" Another one of the spirits asked. Pidge felt Keith tense up beside her in a sudden wave of anger.

"We just went through hell in the last shrine, we deserve a break!" He shouted. Hunk whirled around to face him. He flinched and Pidge nearly forgot the size difference between them since he was human again. 

"Keith, be nice! They're right. Difficult or not this IS a trial." Hunk said to him. The black haired teen shut his mouth and stood down, not wanting argue with Hunk. Let's be honest. No one wants to fight with Hunk. He's too nice. 

The yellow furred lion turned back to the spirit. "Could we possibly have a hint by any chance? I know this is supposed t be a test, but we have been though a lot. That and i honestly have no idea what we're supposed to be doing." Hunk explained.

The first spirit spoke up again. "Well, i suppose since you asked nicely, we could give you a nudge in the right direction." They said with a smirk that was more or less directed at Keith. He only grumbled and kept his head down. Shiro cast a look towards him but said nothing. Pidge would have to force them to talk later. 

"Really? That's awesome thank you!" Hunk said with a hearty smile. The spirit nodded. 

"My hint to you is more of a suggestion. The rest of the shrine has many more graves and headstones. I recommend going for a nice walk and see the sights. The flowers this time around are perfect." They said with a smile of their own. "After all-" They turned to Keith and squinted. "You deserve a break."

Even though the comment wasn't directed towards her, Pidge felt the shivers goes down her spine nonetheless. All at once the spirits raised their hands to the back wall of the shrine, and the wall started to crumble. After a moment the shines fell away to reveal a dark hallway lit with torches. "This will lead you to the rest of the shine." One of the other spirits said. "We wish you luck on your journey."

Pidge nodded along with the others and they all thanked them for their kindness. Hunk had to nudge Keith with his paw to get a thanks out of him though, and Shiro didn't seem to like that very much. He was right though, Keith was being a bit rude. She got that they had been though a lot from the past shrine, but that didn't mean he had to yell.

The group made their way into the tunnel that was barley large enough for Shiro to fit though and started their walk. Pidge decided to hang towards the back of the pride with Hunk and chat with him. "So, what do you think the trial is gonna be?" She asked the larger lion. Hunk simply shrugged. 

"No clue. But i think Lance was right about this being an easy friendly trial. I men, it's a cemetery for a shrine. Having i dangerous trial at a place where people are buried just doesn't seem right. It could ruin the place and that's just not right." He explained.

Pidge nodded. "Seems logical i guess. Not saying that it's going to be easy, but i don't think there'll be fighting or violence this time." She said. Hunk hummed in agreement. "But i still can't even guess what it might be. A puzzle? obstacle course? I have no idea." Pidge admitted. Usually she could figure these things out. She was supposed to be the brains of the group after all. 

Soon the group made it to the end of the dark hall and let out simultaneous sighs of relief when the shrine wasn't underground like the last one. Instead, it was a very large room with many stone pillars covered in vines. The room had to have been the size of 3 football fields and half of the ceiling was gone, claimed by erosion and vines.

Gentle light filtered in through numerous missing windows and holes in the building. It look very aesthetically pleasing though. The pillars were all ten yards apart on both directions, and between each pillar was a small headstone with many foreign languages carved into them. While saddening that there were so many graves, it was beautiful. 

They all made their way to the center of the room and looked around. Heck, even Keith was blown away by how pretty the place was. However, none of the flowers the spirits had mentioned could be seen. Just vines and leaves. A few of the graves had flowers placed on them but they were long withered and dead.

"Doesn't look like anyone's been here for a while." Hunk commented sadly. He walked over to a headstone near him and saw that it was half crumbled and too old to be read, even if he was able to read the language. "It's kind of sad." He said.

"People come to this planet to bury their loved ones and leave them here for a peaceful afterlife." Allura explained. She found a stone on one of the pillars that had writing on it. "Since the planet is unoccupied for the most part, it's a peaceful quiet place to be buried. The galra have no reason to come to this planet so it was the safest place to keep their graves."

By then, Hunk had an idea. "Why don't we clean this place up and get flowers for the graves?" He suggested. "Not like we have anything else to do for now. Maybe we'll find some clues to the trial while doing that." 

Keith rolled his eyes, thinking it was a waist of time, but the other nodded. Especially Pidge. She had been to abandoned cemeteries back on earth with Matt, so she felt obliged to help with this one as well.


	22. Kindness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I literally typed this in McDonalds.

Shiro and Hunk took the job of rolling away the fallen stones while Pidge and Lance cleared away dead vines that were rotting in the areas with no sunlight. Allura (And reluctantly Keith) had taken the job of cleaning up the headstones. Pidge nearly laughed when Keith ended up doing the most cleaning because Allura spent her time reading the headstone. Not only were there names and dates on the smooth stones, but they had summaries of the deceased life on them.

Unluckily for the rest of them, she was the only one who could read the foreign languages. Being a princess, she was fluent in almost every alien language that there was. So she was the only one who could read the numerous stories that were carved into stone. 

"Oh this one was a general! He had a fun life as it seems." Allura commented, reading off another one. Keith rolled his eyes as brushed off a headstone near her. Pidge laughed. It was funny to watch those two. Keith looked like he just wanted to take a nap and Allura was super eccentric about everything she found. "Hey Pidge look at this!" She exclaimed.

The green lion looked over to the white haired princess and dropped the branch she was holding on her mouth before walking over to her. Allura was pointing to a rather old looking headstone that was well worn by wind and rain. On the top there was a clump of vines wrapped around something. Leaning in for a closer look, Pidge saw that the clump was wrapped around an ornate looking dagger. 

"It's a knife?" She asked. Keith took interest in the word 'Knife' and wandered over to them. Standing beside Pidge, he reached out and carefully pulled the thick green plant from the shiny object. Once it was free from the plant prison, Keith held the dagger in his hands for the other two to see. "Whoa." Pidge muttered in awe.

The dagger was a very shiny metal that looked similar to white gold, and had blue gems embedded into the highly detailed hilt. The length overall was roughly a whole foot and it shimmered with the slightest movement. Allura brushed her hand over the blade. "It's still sharp." She looked back to the headstone and read the biography on it.

"The owner was a single mother who-" Allura gasped softly. "She died defending her only child from a regiment of galra soldiers who invaded their home planet. Using, this dagger." She looked back to the dagger with a sad frown. "That is.........unfortunate to hear." The princess said quietly. 

Pidge's ear fell flat against her head. That was sad. Like, really sad. She faintly wondered what happened to the child mentioned in the bio on the headstone. Had the mother succeeded? Was her child she worked to hard to defend even alive?

"Well, i suppose we should get back to work. We're nearly done here." Allura stated with a sad sigh. Pidge nodded and went back to the branch she had been moving. Lance was finished with his part and was helping Hunk and Shiro move some more stones. There was a massive part of the right wall that was missing so they just rolled the rocks out through there. Outside was another field of hills covered in flowers of various colors.

She dragged the branch over and tossed it out with ease. Pidge was surprised when she saw Keith walk passed her and out into the field without a word. Hunk watched him for a moment before Shiro called the yellow furred lion over for help. Pidge didn't have anything better to do anyways so she stayed and watched as Keith walked around the massive clearing, almost as if looking for something. 

With wide eyes, she watched as Keith leaned down and plucked a soft pink rose looking flower with curled leaves from the ground. A few roots came with it put he quickly cleaned them off. As he walked back, he looked up and saw Pidge staring at him with a questioning gaze. He quickly hid the flower behind his back and she turned as if she had seen nothing. 

She grabbed a random rock to make it look like she was working instead of spying on him and he took the bait, walking passed her casually. When his back was facing her, Keith walked over to the other end of the room near where the dagger had been found (They left it there out of respect) and stopped by a headstone beside it. The grave was much, much much smaller that the others. 

'That is too small of a grave.' Pidge thought to herself. It was meant for a child. An unbelievably small child. The child of the daggers owner. No one should have to die that young. And Keith knew it too as he placed the beautiful flower atop of the headstone. Pidge would have smiled if the situation wasn't so sad. 

After the heartwarming and heartbreaking moment, they returned to their work and finished moving everything out of the room, and it looked a hundred times better than it had before. The room almost gave a soft glow from the gentle rays of light coming from the half fallen ceiling. As they stood back and admired their work, Pidge saw Keith glancing at the headstone he had put the flower on.

"We should give them all flowers." Hunk stated, noting the bright pink rose. The others were quick to agree and Keith looked surprised, but he nodded nonetheless. So for the next half hour, Allura and Keith piled flowers onto the lions backs and one by one they decorated the old headstones and even stuck some in the vines on the pillars. The sun started to set around them, casting a golden glow across the room. The gold light shone through the flower petals, casting a colorful kaleidoscope of color everywhere. 

What none of them expected, was for a yellow orb to suddenly appear in the middle of the room. They had completed the trial.

Sometimes the greatest of trials are giving a little bit of kindness to those who need it.


	23. Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yet another shrine completed, and lessons are learned.

"Well, that was easy." Pidge stated simply as the yellow orb hovered in the center of the room. Hunk seemed entranced the way the yellow light around the orb danced like a flame around it source. It made sense, seeing as it was meant for him anyways. 

Hunk stepped forwards and approached the orb, the sacred 'gift' that floated in front of him. Remembering what Keith had done in the red shrine, and leaned forward and touched the tip of his wide snout to the fiery sphere. At first, nothing happened. But the moment Hunk pulled away from the orb, it glowed even brighter than it had before, and the spirits from earlier emerged from it.

"Hello again, paladins of new. I see you have passed the trial of the kind hearted. Being good at fighting comes in handy when you're a hero, but what MAKES you a hero is more important." The closest spirit said. "Most of you already had kindness in your heart, but you still had to be tested." The statement had been more or less directed towards Keith, who lowered his gaze to the floor before him.

"You have done well, and have made many lost souls happy. They have not been visited by the living for many years." Another one of the ghostly aliens stated. With a wave of their arm, more ghostly figured rose from the numerous headstones around them. Keith looked to the headstone where he had left the pink rose as saw a mother holding her small child, smiling at him gratefully. He smiled and waved to them.

"We wish you good luck for the rest of your trials. I trust that you will all pass." The first spirit said with a kind smile. They vanished into thin air and the rest of the spirits sunk back into their graves. Once they were gone, the orb burst into a million tiny shards. And just like the red on had, the tiny shards flew to their designated paladin, digging deep into Hunks skin. 

Since this time they weren't being thrown from a volcano, they could see the transformation process. Hunks body glowed as bright as the orb had, causing Pidge and the others to either squint or look away. Hunks shining form shrunk as he got brighter, and the whole time, no cries of pain could be heard from the yellow paladin. Pidge knew that it was painful though, as Keith had said the only thing he could remember was the pain. She felt bad for the others and feared for herself. Being human again we be awesome but it would hurt like hell.

When the light faded, Pidge faintly wondered how the heck their clothes ended up back on them when they had transformed back. Keith had been fully clothed when he changed, same now with Hunk. The small lion would have to ask about that later when they finished their trials. 

Hunk laid unconscious on the smooth stone floor and Allura rushed to check on him. With a nod, she confirmed that he was fine, just out cold. Unlike Keith, he hadn't received any injuries so he wouldn't need a healing pod. Just some rest. "Well, someone carry him and we'll head back to the castle again." The Princess stated. Lance, being Hunks right hand man and best bud, was quick to volunteer.

Shiro helped hoist the unconscious boy onto the blue lions back. Once he was balanced and in place, they turned back the way they came and started walking. Pidge stayed in the rear while the others walked in front of her smaller form. She let her thoughts wander to the gravestones they had decorated and cleaned. Her and the rest of the paladins were lucky to not be among them.

The green paladin then recalled all of the times herself and the others had nearly died. Most of them because of the empire, others because of machine failure, and a few due to just pure bad luck. Like that one time that a random meteor had hit the castle and created a hole in the viewing window large enough to suck almost all of their breathable air out into space. Yeah, that sucked.

Keith looked back to make sure she was still following, but instead met her saddened gaze. The red paladin slowed his walk until he was standing beside her in the small tunnel lit with torches. For a moment they walked in silence, but soon that grew uncomfortable for the both of them. "So..." Keith started. It was obvious he had no idea what to say. He was never really the talker of the group. That was Lance. "How are you?" He questioned awkwardly. At least the poor guy was trying.

"I'm good i guess. Being stuck as a giant cat is great." She replied with a small hint of sarcasm to her voice. Pidge wasn't trying to be rude, but she wasn't exactly in a good mood. Thinking wasn't always good, but she was the smart one. That's all she could do was think. But that doesn't mean the thoughts were always helpful or good.

"Sounds like fun." He replied in a joking manner. Keith? Make jokes? Dang that shrine really must have changed him. "Anywho, if you need to you know, talk to someone i guess. You can talk to me. I'm not the great of a person to have a conversation with, but i'll listen. Ok?" He offered. 

Pidge was surprised at his sudden swell of.......kindness. Of course. The trials. They were meant to teach ALL of them, not just the color coordinated paladin. They all had learned instinct, and now kindness. And whatever was next, they would all learn that trait as well. This whole mission was just one big lesson.

Ignoring her previous line of thought for now, she turned to Keith with a small smile. "Sure thing, Keith." Pidge replied. He returned her smile with a small nod. Looking forward, the green furred lion realized they had fallen behind the rest of the group.

"Come on, let's catch up to the others." Keith said. Him and Pidge walked side by side the rest of the way to the castle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, i do not ship Kidge. I wanted to give the two some bonding time since i don't see them bond all that often in the show. AS FRIENDS


	24. Only A Child

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While lessons are a good thing, they can be stressful to those of young mind

The Paladins and Allura all returned to the castle with smiles on their faces. None of them wanted to say the trial had been easy, but it was. The act of kindness was more of a simple test than a trial, but they had to respect that it was one of their trials nonetheless. So instead of commenting on the simplicity of it, the group stayed silent and enjoyed the small break. 

By the time they reached the hangers where their makeshift bed piles were, it was dark outside and millions of stars shimmered in the night sky. Hunk had woken up shortly after Coran had brought more food for the lions. He even brought some of that weird green food goo for Allura Hunk and Keith. Pidge almost felt bad for them. She didn't find the goo very appetizing herself.

So she instead stuck with mowing down hungrily on a slab of raw meat once again. Like she had admitted before, it wasn't half bad. But as soon as she was human again, Pidge was forcing Hunk to make pancakes. 

"It's so weird to have opposable thumbs again-" Hunk stated as he sat crossed legged on the floor beside Lance. "Like, i couldn't move my thumbs as a lion. Wait, did i even have thumbs?" He asked, flexing his hands. Lance replied by offering his massive blue paw to the yellow paladin. "Ok, i did, but their just in a different spot-"

Pidge laughed a bit when she finished her food. "Do you guys think we'll all still act like giant cats when we finish all of the trials?" She wondered. Keith shrugged from his seat near Shiro.

"Maybe. I sure hope not because i don't want anyone to just start purring randomly-" The black haired teen stated with a small smirk. Lance looked over to him.

"Dude, i would love to be able to purr as a human. I could freak so many people out, and i would be adorable as hell-" The large blue lion said with a huge smile. It was more of smirk than a smile however. Hunk shook his head.

"Nah, Pidge would be the adorable one." He teased. Pidge sat up and squinted at him.

"Don't call me adorable-" She said, half joking. The others only laughed a bit. "What? I am NOT adorable-" Pidge argued.

"Well, to be honest you actually are." Allura stated, stepping into the conversation. She was sitting beside Shiro, leaned up against his side. With Shiro's fur the Princess was almost swallowed up from view. "And as a lion you just so happen to be the fluffiest." She added on.

Pidge just rolled her eyes. "I could probably eat you if i really wanted to. Don't tempt me-" Pidge teased right back. Allura only chuckled. Suddenly she head a noise behind her and with a sense of dread, she realized that Allura had distracted her and now Hunk and Keith were right behind her. She jumped up to try and escape, but their hands were to fast for her.

Hunk latched onto her and started petting near her ears and neck, causing her to go limp and become a purring mess. When she flopped onto he side, Keith pet her exposed belly and she melted even further, purrs amplifying across the room. Lance Shiro and Allura broke out into hysteric laughter as their green friend was forced into a state of ecstasy. Unfortunately for her, Hunk used to have a pet cat so he knew exactly where to pet to keep her still.

"Yup, she's definitely the adorable one." Lance commented, laying down and watching the scene unfold in front of him with an amused smile. Shiro chuckled and looked down to Allura at his side. 

"Should we rescue her?" He asked. Pidge was too out of it to even ask for help. Allura shook her head with a small smile.

"No, let's just leave her be." The white haired princess replied. "Besides, i think Pidge is rather enjoying the attention." Allura commented. She cast a glance over to the green lion and her limp form as the two smaller beings pet her. Lance had fallen asleep at some point and was snoring softy from his pillow pile while Pidge was halfway there, right between sleep and tiredness. 

Hunk was now laying on his back with Pidge's fuzzy head on his stomach while he scratched behind her ears gently, causing her to purr and intently vibrate. Keith too the chance for a free massage and was leaned up against her middle, napping lightly with his head leaned back on her green fur. Her gentle breathing was enough to move him back and forth like rocking a baby, so he stayed asleep.

Coran had left to his own room by now and Allura chose to stay with Shiro for the night. Eventually Hunk passed out as well, using Pidge as a living blanket of some sorts as the three of them slept in her pillow pile. Lance had rolled upside down and twitched occasionally while Shiro remained awake with the princess.

"I'm glad we found these trials." The winged lion said with a low rumble in his voice. "Sure they might be a bit dangerous, but everyone's learning from them. Keith is starting to actually show when he's being nice, and Pidge is starting to follow her instincts more. I get that she likes to think about her actions before she does them, but she tries to hard sometimes." He said, resting his head beside Allura. She nodded.

"I agree. I feel like she believes that she has to keep up with everyone's expectations. I was the same way so i would know. She's....tense, to say the least. Being the youngest isn't always the easiest. She's only 15 and she has to save the universe so she doesn't want anything to go wrong, to go off plan." Allura explained out loud. Shiro let out a small growl to agree with her.

"Sometimes things just don't go according to plan."


	25. Deep Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More fluff, and plans are made

You'd think by now Pidge would be used to waking up in weird positions due to the last few days full of random cuddle piles, but yet again she was surprised when everyone was in a massive fluff pile yet again. Hunk remained as the green lions pillow, asleep under her head, while Keith rested against her stomach. Lance was tucked in front of her, making a circle around the red paladin as he rested. Shiro was wrapped around all of them with his wing covering them like a tarp and Allura slept under the black lions chin by his neck.

Coran, of course, had taken a picture of them all. A small flash from the small picture taking device was what had awoken Pidge from her cat nap. With a yawn, she stretched out the best she could without waking the others. Unluckily for her, Keith and Shiro were light sleepers so they awoke soon after. And with them, rose the others like a chain reaction. 

"Ok, this is starting to get ridiculous. I'm looking at the camera's later to see if one of you guys keeps moving us into a pile-" Lance stated, rolling onto his back lazily. "I mean being in a giant cuddle pile is awesome, but none of us remember moving. Like, what the cheese?" He asked himself.

"Instincts maybe." Keith stated with a small smirk. Lance rolled back onto his stomach and squinted at Keith with his deep blue eyes. The smirk vanished and Pidge could feel Keith tense up beside her.

"Did......did you just make a joke?" Lance asked, voice filled with disbelief. Keith shrugged, relaxing a bit. For a moment he though he had said something to upset the large blue feline.

"I guess i did?" He stated, a bit unsure is he had. Keith never really made a lot of jokes other than that one time Lance had been handcuffed to a tree and had his lion stolen.

Hunk sat up with a huge smile. "One of us....one of us...one of us!" He started chanting. Shiro rolled his eyes and with a groan he covered his ears with his paws, successfully burying Allura with the fur of his mane in the process. The princess, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind all that much anyways. The Altean rather enjoyed the warmth coming from Shiro.

"Oh my god-" Keith stated, covering his face with his hands in embarrassment at the chant. Lance joined in at some point and was bouncing happily. "I make one joke and this is how you guys react. Wow." The red paladin said with a small chuckle. Pidge had noticed more recently that ever since the shrines, Keith had been opening up a bit more. In fact, the whole team was coming closer as friends. As a family.

"Well, i'm glad you are all having a grand time, but there is still a mission at hand." Coran stated, standing in front of them all. Allura reluctantly moved from her comfy fur nest and stood by Coran. The mustached man pulled up a small device and a glowing 3d map popped up from it. "The next closest shrine was fairly close to the yellow shrine, so while you were all napping away, i moved the castle as close as i could to the shrine."

Pidge sat up, releasing Hunk form his pillow duty, and looked at the map. A frown formed on the face of the smallest lion. "That still looks pretty far away. Why can't we get any closer?" By the looks of it, the shrine was smack dab in the middle of a massive valley of some sorts. Not as big as the one where Vitea was resting, but similar in shape.

"While this mighty castle is built to last through many terrains and the rough conditions of space, underwater is not one of them."

No sooner than the word 'water' was said, Lance was on his feet. "10 gak says that the shrine is mine." The sleek furred lion declared firmly.

"I wouldn't doubt it, oh master of the tides-" Hunk said with a laugh. "Water is your thing dude. You're the BLUE paladin, guardian spirit of water." He pointed out. Pidge nodded. That's why Keith's shrine had literally been a pool of magma that set everything on fire. Including the tip of her tail. It still ached a bit.

"Ooooooh man i haven't been swimming in ages-" Lance stated, pacing out of pure excitement. "Can we take like, a small break before we do the shrine and just have a beach day or something?" He asked with a giddy smile, looking to Shiro for an answer.

The winged lion look to Allura, and after a moment, they both shrugged. "I don't see why not. We're not really in that much of a rush, and it would give Vitea more time to heal too." He said, looking back to Lance. The blue lion looked ready to explode with joy. And explode he did.

"WOO HOO! Yeah! Thank you thank you thank you-" Lance yowled loudly. He ran n a small circle before (somehow) doing a back-flip. While he pranced around like a horse, the other stood up from their sleeping spots and stretched out their stiff limbs. 

"Alright, asking now in case no one will later." Pidge announced. "Does anyone here not know how to swim?" She asked. While she wasn't the greatest in the water, she did enjoy the occasional trips to the pool when she lived back on earth.

Very slowly, with a look of slight embarrassment, Keith raised his hand. "I uh, never really had a chance to learn how. As a lion i just kind of kicked in. But now? I have no clue. That's why i grabbed onto you after we got shot out of the volcano." He explained to Pidge. 

"Wait then why the heck were you going to the pool that one time when the castle was being all weird and trying to kill us all?" Lance asked suddenly.

"I didn't plan on swimming. I was going to sit near the edge and just enjoy some quiet time. Which is nearly impossible since you guys are the loudest people i have ever known in my life-" Keith stated sarcastically. 

"Alright alright, calm down. Are we going to have a beach day or not?" Shiro asked.

Everyone turned to face him. "Yes."


	26. Beach day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of fun stuff. Things get more serious in the next chapter though!

Within the hour, the paladins, Allura, and Coran had all made it down to the beach. Pidge and Lance ended up carrying the towels and other stuff Allura insisted they packed, and a crystal powered hair dryer of some sorts for those with fur. But deep down Pidge knew that Coran was going to use it for his mustache instead.

The space uncle was also wearing the most ridiculous swim suit she had ever seen. It was like a leotard with short sleeves and legs that had orange and white stripes across the whole thing. And to top it off, there were tiny little shower caps on the ends of Coran's mustache to keep it from getting messed up in the water.

When they reached the waters edge, Lance didn't hesitate before leaping into the water with a happy yowl and a giant splash that showered the rest of them. "Thanks Lance-" Keith stated sarcastically. He had yet to step near the water and instead dug his toes into the warm sand that was still dry from the sun.

Hunk spent no time dawdling and jumped in after his best friend, splashing him with a huge laugh. The two locked into a playful water fight while Pidge and Allura calmly walked into the cool blue water. Unlike earth, the water had more of a sweet smell than a salty one. By the time she was in up to her underbelly, Lance decided that was far enough and tackled her from the side, easily knocking her over into the small waves. She let out a mewl of surprise before surfacing with a mop of fur over her eyes. 

With a mighty shake, the fur was out of her eyes and she could see Lance laughing hysterically as he splashed around in the shallow water. Shiro was standing at the edge, and looked as if he was trying to find a way to swim and keep his wings dry. He gave up that bit when Allura splashed him, soaking up to his chest. In return, he smirked with a playful growl before using his now wet wings to launch himself into the water right beside her. When he hit the water, Pidge could only watch as Allura was obscured from view with a wave caused by his massive body.

For a moment, she didn't resurface and Pidge started to worry. "Allura?" She asked, looking around in the water where the princess had vanished.

The moment Shiro turned to face another direction, Allura popped out of the water and tackled Shiro. Her small size did nothing to him, but it id catch his attention. With a surprised yelp, he tried to look down at her, but she had latched onto him just below his line of vision so he couldn't see her. 

"Wait, i have an idea!" Hunk announced, now proudly sitting on Lance's back as if the lion was a horse. He was a bit larger than a horse though, so yeah. A giant fluffy horse. "Who wants to chicken fight?" The yellow paladin asked. Lance smiled excitedly along with Pidge. Keith raised an eyebrow from his spot on the sand, and Allura seemed confused.

"What's chicken fight?" She asked. "Sounds fun." The princess said with a smile. 

"It's a game where people sit on each others shoulders and try to knock the other teams off into the water." Pidge explained.

"Wanna make it more fun and try three teams at once instead of two?" Lance asked. Hunk gladly agreed, along with Shiro and Allura. Pidge nodded as well. "Ok, so everyone pick your teams! Everyone gets a lion to ride to make it fair." The blue lion stated.

Allura automatically picked Shiro and Hunk stuck with Lance, leaving Pidge to try and get Keith in the water. She swam to the shallow water and climbed up onto the sand beside the red paladin. "Whadda you say? Wanna play?" She asked with a smirk. Keith simply shook his head.

"Can't swim, remember?" He pointed out. Pidge shrugged.

"You don't have to worry about swimming unless you plan on losing." Pidge replied. "Unless you're too chicken to go up against Lance and lose to him~" She teased, leaning down so her sopping wet fur dripped water on him.

He moved and brushed the water off. "Fine, but only so i can prove to you i'm not a chicken. And if i do fall you better not let me drown-" Keith said firmly. Her plan worked. By now Pidge knew that Keith never stood down from a challenge. Especially when it was a challenge involving Lance. She never understood their little 'rivalry' that Lance seemed to think they had.

With a reluctant eye-roll, Keith climbed up into Pidge's back and she waddled back into the water. The small green lion could feel Keith tense up when the water splashed against his feet, and then moved up to his waist. By now the others were ready and waiting for them. Coran floated around them on a bright orange floaty with a waterproof device to keep tally of who won or lost.

"Ready everyone?" The mustached Altean asked. Allura looked ready for murder with a crazy smile on her face and she clung to Shiro's mane of black fur. Hunk looked ready to have fun while Lance and Keith were having an intense stare down. Pidge only smiled and braced herself against the waves. Being the smallest, the water reached almost up to her jaw, even with her head all the way up. With Shiro however, he was tall enough the where Allura's feet were barley touching the water.

"Alright, begin!" Coran hollered. Lance didn't hesitate before leaping at Pidge and Keith. The green lion leapt forwards to meet them head on, literally. Their heads butted together and they pushed against one another as Hunk and Keith locked hands and tried to throw the other off. It only lasted for a moment because Allura interrupted and Shiro nearly knocked Lance over. Allura and Hunk locked grips and in a few short moments, Hunk was thrown into the water. 

"Woo hoo!" Allura cheered and Lance hurried to his rider's aid. Both were laughing. In an instant she turned on Pidge and she found herself headbutting and pushing against her. Above her, Keith and Allura locked hands and pushed against one another.

"Don't go easy on me old man-" Pidge teased. In response, Shiro smirked and pushed against her, sliding her backwards through the sand and into deeper water where she had to swim instead of standing. This caused Keith to lose balance, and the princess tossed the smaller boy into the water with ease. When Shiro let up his attack, Pidge hurried to swim over and let Keith climb onto her back before he sank beneath the waves.

"Thanks-" He said with a cough. Behind them Shiro and Allura did a victory dance while Lance and Hunk demanded a rematch.


	27. Swept Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I kinds feel bad for doing all of this to Pidge

Jingle Blues  
Five rounds of chicken later, Shiro and Allura had ended the water war with a splash. The princess hadn't even fallen into the water once during the game, and her hair was still dry. The other, however, were a sopping wet mess of fur and hair. They had all wandered into a deeper water by now and Keith had his arm draped over Pidge's back to keep himself afloat while Lance and Hunk floated on their own.

Exhausted, the group let the waves of the massive salty lake sway them back and forth. Coran had went back to the castle on his own to continue the search for the 5th shrine (which was still missing), leaving the paladins and Allura to enjoy the water. 

But soon they remembered that they were all on a mission, and that they had a trial pass. "So, anyone have an idea on how to get t the shrine?" Lance asked. "I would suggest swimming down there but i doubt any of us can hold our breath that long or swim that fast." The blue furred lion pointed out to the rest of the group. Pidge shrugged.

"Maybe we could take Blue?" The smaller lion suggested. After a second she felt a wave of realization slap her in the face. "Right, you're a lion. You can't exactly fly blue-" She stated. Keith chuckled beside her.

"Well, red's not too fond of water so i don't think she'd want to take us down there. What about Yellow?" The red paladin asked. Hunk thought about the idea for a moment.

"Yeah that might work. Yellow is slow in the water but he's been in water before and didn't seem to mind all that much." Hunk climbed back up onto Lance's back as the lion doggy paddled in the water. Both paladins winced, remembering the fight on the mermaid planet with that weird Baku dragon thing. Pidge had dug into their lions 24 hour camera feed just to see what the thing looked like and she could tell that it was not a fun fight to deal with.

Fighting the Empire was enough work as it is, so any extra fighting just felt tedious to them. Even this trial felt like overtime for their job of protecting the universe. Pidge knew that the trails were good for them as it was testing and making their skills and knowledge grow, but she didn't feel as though it was necessary to the war.

"Well, let's head back to the castle and get Yellow so we can get this trial over with." Shiro commented. He had his wings tucked closely to his sides in the water so they wouldn't just be dead weight dragging behind him.

All nodding in agreement, they started to swim back to the shore they had come from.

They didn't make it. 

In the murky water beneath and around them, the current shifted, and started to pull them away from the shore. "What the cheese?!" Lance exclaimed, pushing his legs through the water faster. It made no difference as the current sped up, pulling them towards the center of the lake.

Pidge started to panic as the once gentle waves started to become more and more violent around them, splashing harshly against their sides. A wave went over the top of Keith and he nearly lost grip from Pidge's soft fur and almost got dragged under the water. She hastily reach around to grab the back of his shirt with her teeth to make sure he wasn't lost to the dark water.

Above them, the sky dimmed as clouds blocked out the sun and it started to rain down on them. It was a storm, and the storm was directly over top of them feeding energy into the water that tossed them around like they were leaves in a river. Only they were't leaves, they could sink.

"Guys it's forming a whirlpool!" Shiro hollered. Pidge barley heard him through the water and the blowing wind that had become violent as well. "We have to get out of the water now or we'll drown!"

"I think we've figured that out by now!" Hunk yelled back. Still on Lance's back, the poor boy looked terrified as the waves tugged and shoved at them. Shiro raised his wings above him, still holding Allura, and flapped furiously as he tried to fly. But his feathers were far to soaked and all he did was sink further. 

Pidge watched in horror and Shiro and Allura vanished as if something grabbed them and pulled them under. "Shiro!" The smallest lion cried out with a pained roar. Keith was dropped from her mouth when she yowled and he quickly latched around her think neck to keep from drowning. Lance took action and dove under to try and grab Shiro along with the princess from the depths of the black water. The wind picked up and Keith was nearly thrown right from her neck.

Neither Lance or Hunk surfaced again, leaving Keith and Pidge alone to fight the thrashing waves and wind. Rain poured down in thick droplets, and they couldn't even see which way the shore was anymore. "Keith they're gone what do we do!?" Now she was panicking, frantically trying to keep her head and Keith out of the water.

"We need to get to shore! But i don;t know which way that is!" He hollered over the howling wind so Pidge could hear him. "It's either that or we go for the shrine! Maybe that's what's causing this!"

"Wait you're telling me we HAVE to drown!?" Pidge screeched. For a moment she went under, and in a flurry of panicked bubbled she flailed back to the surface. Keith was no longer wrapped around her neck, and she remembered that he didn't know how to swim.

"Keith! Shiro! Lance!" She yellow out, spinning around in the water, praying that one of them would pop back up above the water. Pidge was scared. Terrified. She didn't want to drown.

'My paladin, you will be alright.' A calming voice filled her mind, and she felt her mind go numb, but she didn't relax. Her panic was too great along with her fear. 'I am sorry. But trust me in that you will be fine.'

Suddenly the numb feeling spread to her body, and Pidge went completely limp. 

She slipped into a blissful state of unconsciousness as he waves washed over small form, and Pidge vanished into the darkness below.


	28. Sinking Hopes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tada! And extra 500 words to make up for the holidays!

Pidge awoke from her dull state of darkness when she felt a tremendous weight press into her chest, forcing the air, and some water from her massive lungs. Coughing violently, Pidge lifted her front half from the cold stone ground beneath her as she drained the cold liquid from her body.

"Oh thank god-" She heard Lance say as she heaved for breath. She felt hands on the side of her face and Pidge cracked her eyes open to see Hunk, looking at her with worry. A bit shaky, the small green feline nodded, coughing again. Hunk seemed a bit relieved along with Shiro and Allura.

"Wait, where's Keith?" She asked, standing up and looking around. They were in a small cavern looking area, similar to the caves of a balmera. But instead f a gold orange lighting, it was dim blue lighting. Looking up, Pidge gasped in surprise when she saw that the ceiling was made out of water. It was as if the lake was being held up by a massive sheet of clean glass. Far above them Pidge saw a small dot which she guessed was the sun.

Right away Pidge noticed that the red paladin was not among them. Lance looked down to the ground with a pained look on his face.

"We........haven't found him yet." The sleek furred lion said sadly. "It took us a while to even find you. The rest of us woke up in the same area." He explained. Pidge's eyes widened. If Keith had woken up like she had and no one was there to get the water form his lungs-

"Well what are we waiting for!? We have to find him!" She declared, standing up straight. Her head exploded in pain from sitting up to fast and she flopped to her side. Hunk was there immediately to make sure she was alright.

"I know, i know, but we've been looking for a while now and nearly got lost. We just found you a few minutes ago." Shiro pointed out. "We've been awake for hours by now. So i'm guessing its safe to assume Keith is fine. You woke up even after that long with no breathing so it must be the same with Keith." The winged lion explained. 

"Wait, hours?" She asked. That was impossible. Even a few minutes with no air would kill her. The longest human on earth to last without air was like, 15 minutes at most. So how was she still alive? It just wasn't possible.

Then again a few years ago she would think that war against aliens and turning into a lion would be impossible. 

"It was actually Lance who found you. I will admit that i panicked a bit when i woke up, but he snapped us out of it and told us that priority was to find you and Keith." Shiro said sheepishly. Hunk and Allura nodded while Lance puffed out his chest with pride. Of course he would brag about something like that.

"I was the first one up and for some reason i didn't really seem to care about the obvious fact that we're stuck under lake, i just wanted to find you guys and make sure you didn't drown or anything." Lance said, walking over to her. It was than Pidge realized that all of them were completely dry. They really had been down here for a few hours.

Standing up, successful this time, Pidge let out a sigh. "As much as i hope you're right, Shiro, we still have to find Keith soon. Hypothermia is still a thing and i'm covered in fur and still cold. So we should start looking for him." The green lion stated. The rest of the group nodded. 

Deciding it would be faster, Allura hopped onto Shiro's back while Hunk got a ride from Lance. Pidge took the rear of the group and they began their trek down the dark hallways. Luckily the light through the water above was enough for them to see without Allura's small flashlight. It was almost mesmerizing how the light reflected onto the floor. It almost looked they were in a very natural looking aquarium of sorts.

Only there was no fish in the water above, and the caves they walked through were dead silent. Not even drips of stray water could be heard on the cold stone floor. The only noise was the quiet sounds of their paw steps as they trudged through the darkness. 

Looking around as they walked, Pidge noticed that some parts of the ceiling were swaying, almost like upside down waves. Deciding to pass the time, she began trying to think of ways the water was up there. Her first though was that the water was magnetic, but that would mean the water would just float up to the sky. So that option was out the window very quickly.

Her second idea was that maybe there was some kind of film holding the water up? There were some strange materials in space that could be that strong but still move at the same time.

Lance proved that theory wrong for her when he had Hunk toss a pebble up. It splashed normally like being tossed into a normal earth lake, but it sunk back down and landed beside them, passing through the surface of the water easily.

She was about to think of another theory when the small group suddenly found themselves in a massive dome shaped cave similar to the one in the red shrine. Only this time the dome was a massive air bubble with the water flowing freely around it. This room was much lighter considering that the top of it was closer to the surface than the caves were.

In the center was a pillar of some sorts which appeared to be made out of ice with thin streams trickling down the sides of it. The piller was about 15 feet high and pointed at the top. Look further up, Pidge nearly screamed.

Hanging by a thick vine of seaweed just above the spikes tip, was Keith. His wrist and waist were snagged in a thick vine of some sorts that kept him from being impaled. Looking even further up, Pidge noticed that the whole bubble had vines hanging from it, as if the plants grew downwards instead of up towards the correct surface. That small coincidence had saved that red paladins life.

Shiro lowered to the ground so Allura could climb off of him. When she was down, Shiro moved back to give himself running distance. Pidge and the other stepped back quickly. She wanted to come up with a better plan, seeing as Shiro's wings were still injured and the cavern, as big as it was, was still far to small to be flying in. But there didn't seem to be any better options at the moment. 

Digging his claws into the ground, Shiro started bounding across the stone ground as fast as he could with such a small running space. Once he was a few meters from the pillar, he leaped up with a growl. Spreading his wings as far as he could, the black lion soared upwards towards Keith.

Not wanting to risk dropping the poor boy, Shiro aimed directly at Keith instead of the vine above him. As gently as he could at the speed he was going, Shiro closed his jaws around Keiths waist as he barley glided above the spike. Now the hard part was over, but an even harder problem arose. Landing.

With a surprised crooning noise, Shiro flapped his massive wings as hard as he could as to run ram right into the bubble wall. Instead of slowing down, he ended up going down. With a massive thud, Shiro crashed into the ground in a heap. Pidge hurried over to him and let out a relieved sigh when Shiro brushed the crash off as if it was nothing. As for Keith? That was another story.

Now laying on the ground where Shiro had dropped him when they had crashed, Pidge could see that one of the lions teeth had accidentally scratched Keiths stomach. There was a nasty purple bruise around his wrist form where the vine had snagged him as well, and he didn't seem to be breathing.

Allura moved to quickly fix the last problem. Shooing the others out of the way (Shiro seemed to hover around whenever any of them were hurt) she got to work immediately by doing chest compression's. At first nothing happened. Instead of panicking, the princess got frustrated and slapped Keith across the face.

As if electrocuted, the teens eyes shot open as he sucked in a scratchy breath. Seconds later he was coughing like Pidge had a while ago and chocked a bit as he expelled the unwanted water from his lungs. Pidge let out a relieved sigh to see that Shiro had been right about his earlier theory. Maybe the shrine had kept them from drowning.

Once he was done gagging, Keith sat up and looked around. He groaned and flopped backwards with his hands covering his face. "Can we not have ONE day without the universe trying to kill us?!"


	29. Acceptance

By now, Pidge wasn't sure how to answer that question. Despite being the defenders of the universe, the universe seemed as if it was out to get them. It seemed that their lives were in danger nearly every day ever since they had taken the role of paladins. It didn't sound too far fetched at this point. 

"Well, i suppose not." Shiro commented dryly, shaking out his sore wings from the crash. He nudged Keiths shoulder apologetically when he saw the scratches from his own teeth. Keith shrugged his shoulders, as if saying not to worry about it.

Allura did her best to cover the wound with the small amount of medical supplies she always carried on her. Most of her stuff had been left on the beach, along with Hunk and Keiths armor. Pidge felt bad for them seeing as they were in swimwear and it was fairly chilly in the weird bubble thing. 

"Well, let's just get this trial over with and get the hell out of here." Keith commented once he was patched up. The red paladin stood and shivered a bit as he was in only swim shorts and a damp tee shirt. Hunk was fine for now as he stuck to Lance's side, always in contact with the warm fur. Allura noticed this and did the same with Shiro, leaving Keith with Pidge.

"Good plan mullet." Lance stated. "But we don't know what the trial even is. Or where we are. But we're in a giant bubble thing so i guess we're int he right place?" The blue lion said, looking around. Keith marched over to the bubble wall and before anyone could protest, he shoved his hand through it.

Luckily nothing happened, but now Keith's hand was wet. "Well, it's not an actual bubble. It's just water not going to a certain spot?" He said, confused.

"I'm thinking magnetism." Pidge stated. "It's the best explanation." Either that or magic but the fist option was more believable. 

"Wait, the pillar has writing on it." Allura said, pointing to the spike that Keith had nearly been impaled on moments ago. Shiro walked over to the spike with the princess on his back so they could get a closer look at it. Sure enough, in a foreign language, were symbols and shapes. Writing.

"Can you read it?" Pidge asked to the princess, walking over with Keith by her side. The white haired Altean shook her head no.

"Wait, i can? I think?" Lance stated, taking a step closer to the pillar. "Like, it's more like pictures or something like that i guess." He said. Lance lifted a paw to point at one. "That one's showing something like, earth? Not like the planet, but the element i think." He pointed to another. on the other side of the stone spike. "And that one's nature. And that one is water, and that, fire." The lion said as he pointed to the symbols. "There's on towards the front that looks like, spirit or sky or something? It has wings so i think it's safe to assume it's Shiro's."

Pidge walked over and squinted at the nature one. All she saw was a random scribble carved into the cold stone. "Ok? But what are we supposed to do with this info? There's a symbol for each of us with the exception of Allura." She pointed out.

"Well pigeon, look down. Take a wild guess." Lance commented. Ignoring the nickname, she looked down and saw a small paw print shape at the base of the pillar. It was blue tinted, but her size. The other symbols had paws beneath them as well. "So, same time?" Lance asked. Shiro nodded.

"It's the only thing we can do. I'm just hoping Hunk and Keith being human now doesn't affect anything seeing as those aren't hand prints." The winged lion said. Hunk hopped form Lance's back and moved over to the earth symbol while Keith took his spot by the fire etching. Shiro stood by his point as Lance moved to be by his own.

"Allura you might want to stand back just in case." Lance stated, as if he had a gut feeling something would happen. Pidge felt that it would be better if Allura hadn't tagged along on these missions. She felt bad for thinking that but she wasn't a part of the trials. It was an unnecessary risk.

But the princess moved back nonetheless. Once she was far enough away, Shiro nodded to the others. "Ready team?" He asked. They all gave him a nod of their own in reply. "3....2.....1."

Hunk and Keith kneeled to the floor so they could reach the paw shapes and at the same time as the others, the paladins placed their hands down to the smooth stone floor. The reaction was nearly immediate. With a sudden quake, the pillar began to shake and crumble.

Stone fell from he spike, falling away to reveal a much cleaner, much smoother pillar that was less spiky and had a milky white color similar to marble. The etchings and paw prints however stayed the same. Around them the water tome quivered giving off the effect of small waves in a tide as it shook, but not a single drop fell from it.

Once the stones rolled away and into the water, it began to give off a glow. It started as a soft white light, but one by one colors started to appear, glowing brighter and brighter with each neon addiction. Soon the whole dome became a massive abstract display of rainbow lighting like the inside of a light prism. Pidge couldn't look away.

It was if she had been hypnotized. The other paladins found themselves in the same predicament. Unable to move, staring into the bright colors. There was a tug at her fur, but Pidge barley felt it as she felt her own thoughts fading away, her will to move draining from her as the colors fell together to form a new image in front of her.

Once the colors settled, the image became clear. She was human again, standing in a familiar field of colorful flowers. It looked almost like home, only much brighter as if in a dream.

In front of Pidge, stood her family.


	30. Lighthouse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge finds a new light to follow and lets the past go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \--AUTHORS NOTE PLEASE READ---
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5RWimhicIU&feature=youtu.be
> 
> Listen to this song on low volume while reading this chapter and i promise you it will make all the difference in the world. It came on while i was typing the chapter and I felt as if the song was meant to be in this chapter.
> 
> \--END AUTHORS NOTE---

It took only moment for Pidge to run into their open arms, receiving the embrace she had lacked from them for months. Tears were already free flowing from her face as she held the most precious people in her life. Her mom, dad, and brother. Deep in the back of her mind she knew none of this was real, but for the sake of her family, Pidge let herself have this moment.

"I miss you guys so much...." The green paladin said with a strained voice. "I haven't stopped looking for you guys, I promise. I'll find you all for real and then we can all go home again." Pidge said through the tears. The arms around her tightened gently as they held her. All of them had kneeled to the ground so the youngest didn't have reach up at them.

"Just don't wear yourself out sis." Her older brother Matt said with a smile, ruffling her already crazy hair. "You still have a universe to save, not just us."

Pidge pulled away for a moment and looked up at him, as if not believing what he had said. "No, you guys are my first priority. You know that." 

"We know, but there are things bigger than us in the universe." Her dad said, putting a ghostly warm hand on her shoulder. "There are lives at stake, billion, trillions of them. You're smart and you always have been. So use that big brain of yours to see what needs to be done first. You a hero now, right?" Same asked.

Pidge shook her head, more tears coming from her hazel amber eyes. "No! I didn't ask to be a hero. I asked for my family. You guys are all i want, you're all i need, and you're all i have! I can't just move on and forget about you!" She argued, burying her face into Matt's sweater. She could faintly smell the scent of his old room lingering on the clothes. Pidge knew it wasn't real, just her memory.

"I hate saying these words to you, but you're wrong, Katie." Colleen, her mom, spoke up this time. She reached up and with delicate hands she held her daughters face with a kind smile. "You're wrong. We aren't all you have. You're part of a team, part of a whole new family. You're surrounded by people who love and care about you, not just us." The mother had glistening tear drops in here eyes, but they had yet to fall.

"I'm not going to replace you! Their my friends but they aren't you! I can't look at them and think of them as family because when i picture a family, i see you three!" Pidge.......Katie argued back.

"But you aren't replacing us!" Matt said, hand still on her head. "We aren't telling you to give up on us, Katie. We're telling you that there's a choice to make. If Zarkon wins and takes Voltron, what's stopping him from coming to earth? He already found me and dad, don't let him take mom too." The mop haired brother said, pulling her into a hug. 

Unable to say anything against that valid point, she stayed silent as her brother held her. The occasional sob wracked Katie's body and she sniffled and cried.

Sam spoke up once again. "We love you so much Katie, and we know you love us. So don't give up on us. Trust us instead. Trust that we can wait. Trust that we can old on long enough for you to find us. Trust that we will not let go."

"Trust us to be found, because we trust you to find us." Colleen finished. The shimmering tears fell, twinkling softly in the dream like lighting. Hitting the ground, the droplets of salty water sparkled and vanished into this air like dust in the wind. Around them, the breeze picked up and petals started to gently float from the flowers around them, swirling into the air as if they were tiny fairies, dancing in the sky.

But Katie didn't look up at the flowers, as the sky, at the field or even down at herself. She looked to her family like she had done for her entire life. 

Around her the world fell away to reveal a churning sea, and ocean of obstacles and pain. Off to one side of her was a shore. ON the shore was a lighthouse. Sam Matt and Colleen were the lighthouse when she was at sea in the harsh waves. But ever since she had become the guardian of nature and a paladin of Voltron, the light had been lost as she drifted out to a stormy sea of war.

Like every other boat, she couldn't stay by the shore forever. Smooth waters never made a skilled sailor.

But she wasn't alone. Shiro, Keith, Lance, Hunk, Allura, Coran, all of them. They were in the boat with her on the stormy seas. And the whole time she had a rope tied to the lighthouse. That rope was what held them from going any further out to the open sea and if the rope stayed, they would surly sink.

"I don't want to let go." She cried out. Not to her family, not to her friends, but to herself. She didn't want to lose that lighthouse, she didn't want to get lost. Despite the cuts and burns she received from holding onto that rope, she couldn't. She wouldn't.

"Then hold onto something else." A new, yet very familiar voice said. Katie opened her eyes to find that she was no longer in the open green field, or even the cave. She was standing somewhere new, somewhere more open, somewhere she didn't recognize.

Surrounding her was the deep abyss of space itself. Turning, she found the voice. It was Shiro and the others. She felt the sudden need to be near them, to hold onto them and never let go. Just like with her real family.

But they were her real family too, she realized suddenly. Katie smiled and a new light shone to lead the way. Lance Keith and Hunk were like brothers to her, always messing around, but there for her when she needed support and advice. They were strong when she couldn't be, always looking out for her and making sure she was happy and smiling even in the darkest times.

Allura was like a sister, or a mom friend of sorts. Another girl to talk with, to hang out with and to look up to. She always knew what to say to reassure Katie that things would be ok. Allura pointed out the light when no one else could see it. 

Coran was like an uncle. Random, goofy, but smart in every way and always there when you needed him. He always knew what was best for them physically and mentally. Despite not knowing knowing much about them, he loved the paladins dearly as if they were his students. His family. 

And Shiro. While he was nothing like Sam, he was a father to her. There to protect her, to guide and nurture her as she stumbled along the path layed before her. He never failed them when it came to leadership and guidance. Even when they were on deaths front door, he would say something to ignite a spark in their hearts that fueled the fires in their souls. Shiro looked out for them. He looked out for her.

They were her friends, her family. They were a new lighthouse leading her to a new shore when she couldn't find home.

So Kaite accepted it. She accepted her new family, that she would find her old one once the sea calmed, that everything would be ok. For now, she would focus on the path ahead and not linger anymore.

So with a smile, Katie Holt cut the rope that bound her.

She could find her way back.

They all could.

Together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Saying it now, this was by far my favorite chapter to type. I started typing it hours early so i could pour as much detail and emotion into it as i could. I really hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as i did. I usually take and hour to type a new chapter, but spent 3 hours this time. Please comment what you think!


	31. Fate Without Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Have you come to terms with who you are? :)

Pidge did not now what happened afterwards, only that she awoke on the stone cold floor as a lion yet again in the temple. Laying on her side, she saw Allura in slightly panicked state trying to wake Shiro up from his own spot on the floor. Off to her right she could hear Hunk and Keith groan as they sat up. 

Pidge let out a light 'oof' when she found herself being tackled around her neck an head by the Altean princess. "Oh my goodness are you alright?! You guys touched the paw symbols and there was a bright light and you us fell into some sort of trance and it's been nearly an hour and you all just collapsed what happened!?" 

An hour? It hadn't felt that long. Maybe 10 or 15 minutes at most. She felt kind of dizzy so maybe it had been an hour? Pidge felt rather dazed and couldn't find the brain power in this moment to form words, so she just looked around the room with half lidded eyes instead. Allura rolled her own eyes and moved onto to check on Keith and Hunk. They seemed to be in a similar state as Pidge, but Keith forced himself to stand and stumble over to Shiro's side, despite looking like a drunken man.

Realizing that she couldn't see Lance, Pidge mustered up the strength and pushed enough of her nausea away to stand up and look for him. As she stood, Pidge faintly wondered if the rest of them had illusions or dreams like she had. It was so vivid, and it felt as real as she feels now. But she knew that it wasn't real because her family was still out there waiting to be found.

Speaking of finding, Lance was found easily. He was human again and unconscious like the others had been, but he was slumped with his face and knees on the ground with his rear end in the air, drooling like a baby. She would have laughed but she was concerned for his well being. That, and if Keith saw him like this there would probably be a war between the two paladins.

Instead of letting him ruin his ego, Pidge nudged her head under his waist and slid him onto her back. The brunette was just a tad heavier than Keith therefore it was fairly easy to carry him even in her dizzied state. To her right Shiro finally awoke, but there were tears in his eyes. What had the shrine showed him?

Keith seemed to have a good idea as he was doing his best to comfort the massive winged feline. Shiro reassured him that he was fine and that old memories had resurfaced and it wasn't worth fretting over. Once everyone was accounted for and ok, Allura seemed to calm down a bit.

"So, what exactly happened?" Pidge asked the Altean, finally finding her voice. 

"When you all toughed the paws pads, the pillar crumbled and there was a bright light coming from it. After a moment your eyes started to glow and you just, stared at it. I couldn't snap any of you out of it and i couldn't get you to look away. An hour later and you all just collapsed and the pillar went dark." 

"Well, i had this dream, or vision or something like that." Hunk started to say. "I was back on earth, home. I saw my family and we were all sitting down talking with each other. They told me that it was ok to be scared sometimes, but if i wanted to protect people, i would have to accept that fear and use it to be more brave. Which kind of makes sense?" He finished talking, looking to the others. 

"Same thing with me and Shiro, it seems. What about you Pidge?" Keith asked. The green lion nodded.

"I saw my family, they told me that they could wait to be found, that i had to save the universe first. That my priority is to be a paladin." She explained. "I almost forgot what my moms smile looked like........."

Allura let out a soft sigh and with a gentle motherly grace, she moved closer and pulled the fluffy lion into a welcoming hug. "You'll see your family again. I promise you that." She declared. Pidge felt bad for her, as the Princess had no family of her own left, with the exception of Coran who was an uncle to all of them.

Pidge hugged back the best she could with a person on her back and giant paws. But hey it counts. They released each other before turning to Shiro and Keith.

"What did you guys see if you don't mind us asking?" Pidge questioned. 

"I was back in the arena when i was taken by. "Everyone i..........." He paused and took a deep breathe. "Everyone i killed in that ring, there were there. I thought they would be mad at me, but they weren't. They all forgave me and told m to use what i learned in that ring to fight back against the empire, to..........to accept that there was nothing else i could have done in hat moment, to accept that i'm not monster." The winged lion told his story, breath hitching with his words. "And i believe them. I'm not monster. I never was. Because i regretted it. I never enjoyed killing. I hated it."

Keith placed a hand on Shiro's shoulder, an action that Pidge had only seen Shiro do to the rest of them. Comfort and support.

Now it was his turn. "I saw my dad. It was similar to when i went through the blade of marmora trial, only much less painful." He said with a dry laugh. "He helped me realize that i was still in denial about my galra heritage, and that i needed to accept that it was a part of me and that it's not a bad thing. It's there, and it's me. And i needed to see that it was a strength and an opportunity that was given to me, not a burden." He said with a soft smile.

Pidge sighed with content. They had all come to terms with themselves, and now they could press forward, to follow their fate, without the burden of fear.

Now they just had to get out of this dumb lake.


	32. Special In Every Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Have some Langst

Lance had woken up before the found the exit of the shrine, but he didn't look very happy. When he awoke there was a forlorn, almost sad look in his eyes. Pidge had asked him what was wrong and if he was ok, but the blue paladin said nothing. Normally, she would have left him be to brood and bounce back on his own like he had done many times back on earth at the garrison. 

But now, she would not let that slide.

Instead, she let Lance slide. Right off of her back and onto the stone floor beneath them. "Ow, Pidge what the heck!?" He blurted out, standing up and rubbing the sore spot on his butt where he had landed. The rest of the group turned to look at the duo in surprise.

"Nope, i will NOT let you mope. Something happened during that trial that made you upset." She declared, turning around in the tunnel to face him. "I hate being blunt, but you're either going to tell me what's wrong or i'm going to sit on you." Despite being the smallest lion, she could stuff crush him is she really wanted to. It would not be hard.

"Nothing's wrong, i swear!" He argued, tone rising a bit. Now she knew something was wrong. Lance never raised his voice except for when yelling at Keith. With a dull look she marched over to him. Lance, now freaked out backed up until he was against the wall. "Pidge i said i was fine!" He declared when she was right in front of him, staring him down with a judgmental glare.

"No, you aren't." She replied, in a quite voice with a surprising tenderness that she herself did not even expect. Behind her, the others just watched as she confronted one of her best friends. "Please, Lance. What's wrong? We're friends. Family. We won't judge you or think of you any differently." Pidge sat down in front of him, and waited for him to speak.

He let out a small, forced chuckle, tears suddenly spilling from his eyes. The tears surprised them all as they sat in the dim tunnel. "That just it, Pidge." He said, wiping away the tears that fell. "I want you guys to see me differently."

Shocked, Pidge's jaw dropped a bit. "What.......what do you mean? How do you think we see you?" She asked.

Lance looked up at her, a saddened smile on his face that worried Pidge to no end. "The goofball, the flirt, the one to blame for missions gone south. I'm a screw up, the 7th wheel." With the words came horror to the rest of the team. Pidge felt terrible because she had been the one to call him the goofball. It had only been a joke at the time, but it had more of a punch than she had intended.

Before any of them could speak up to tell him he was wrong, Lance continued talking. "Sometimes i'm not even sure if i'm a good part of the team. I used to think i was the sharpshooter, but Keith has just as good of an shot as i do. He's always been the better pilot too. Shiro is the fearless leader, Keith is the amazing fighter and pilot, Hunk is the engineer who can build just about anything, I don't even need to explain Allura and Coran's importance.,and Pidge, you're the brains. Me? I'm just the guy who tags along and messes up. The one who could easily be replaced, the simple minded. I didn't even get the glowy orb thing Hunk and Keith got.And even though I've accepted that, i still wish it wasn't like that......." Lance finished speaking and slid along the wall to sit down, hands in his lap and legs bumping lightly into Pidge's paws.

Pidge was speechless. This whole time she saw Lance as the courageous hero who put others before himself, the older sibling to make sure everyone was happy, the friend to help where it was needed, the jack of all trades. She thought that it was her that was the weak one who was a 7th wheel. Turns out she had it all backwards this whole time.

"Lance...." Allura spoke this time, stepping forward and kneeling beside him. "We never once thought any of that of you. You aren't replaceable to ANY of us. We care about you." The princess pulled Lance into a gentle embrace, holding the crying boy close. 

Soon the others walked over as well. Those who had human forms joined in and made it a group hug, while Shiro and Pidge sat close, offering their presence as comfort.

"You might not be able to do the things we do, but i don't care. We don't care." Pidge said. "You're different from us, your the calm in the chaos. If it weren't for you i probably would have lost my mind a long time ago. You reminded me of earth because that's all you thought about. Your the normal one that we need to BE normal. Accepting being a 7th wheel wasn't what you need to do."

Lance looked up at her, a curious yet confused look in deep blue eyes. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"You need to accept that you don't have to be special to be loved." Pidge replied. She felt Shiro puff up with pride at her words. Usually it was him giving the speeches. Their leader had taught them well.

"She's right. You don't have to be number one. We're all equals. No one here is special. We're a team. A family. So let's just leave it at that." Keith said, placing a hand on his shoulder with a grin.

Lance recognized the grin and he reflected it with his own. "Are you telling me to give up on the rivalry, mullet?" The tall brunette asked to the shorter male. "Because I might not be special, but i'll still kick your-"

"Lance-" Shiro warned, but even he was smiling. After a moment they were all smiling and laughing.

"In your wildest dreams sharpshooter." Keith said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -AUTHORS NOTE-
> 
> To the person who commented saying that they were hoping for more Lane content, tada! You have ordered, and i have delivered!


	33. Tender moments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coran is worried, and Lance and Pidge bond over family talk!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MY LAPTOP IS SAVED THANKS TO MY AWESOME TECH BROTHER

        As it turns out, the shrine was waiting for Lance to open up to the group, and that had been his real trial. Apparently becoming human before he received the gift was part of the trial. The glowing orb appeared had appeared at the end of the hallways and Lance gratefully accepted it, passing out for a second time that day. Instead of Pidge or Shiro carrying lance on their backs, Keith took the job of hoisting the blue paladin around. He claimed that it was to return the favor of Lance carrying him back at the red shrine.        

        Pidge found that hard to believe. It was Keith him just being nice, or providing a new 'bonding moment' since Lance had forgotten the last one. Little did Keith know that Pidge found out Lance actually did remember the bonding moment, he was just too proud to admit that he had been held in the arms of his 'rival'.  And Pidge, of course, kept that information as blackmail for later.

        After a few more hours of wandering and mindless chatter to pass the time, the group found a tunnel that lead up and out of the underwater temple that they had sunk to only hours ago. The sun had been long set by now and along with a handful of bright stars, three small moons lit up the sky above, reflecting on the very lake that had swallowed them under and sending cascades of vibrant blue and violet light cross the surrounding mountains. 

        Coran, of course, worried endlessly and scolded all of them for vanishing without telling him. First he sounded mad, but then he started sobbing like a two year old. Pidge managed to calm him down with Allura's help, reassuring him that they were all fine and had gotten the sacred gift of the shrine. When the mustached man asked what the trail was this time, Pidge merely said that it was more of a personal subject, but that everything was fine and nothing bad had happened.

        At first he didn't believe her, but Lance had the greatest timing in the world and woke up (He screeched and practically jumped out of Keiths arms) reassuring Coran that they were all ok. If anything, they were better than they had been before. The small green lion heavily agreed to that statement.

        She, along with the others, felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from their chests. They could move on as their role of paladin without fear of what was left or lost in the past. What mattered was the future and what they did to protect it.

        "Alright, you've convinced me. But my caretaking senses tell me that you all are famished and need rest! I'll whip up the best energy packed foods i have in the book!" Coran announced once they had made it back the castle. Water dripping from the sides of the massive Altean ship showed Coran's attempts the get the castle or even a pod down the lakes bottom. "The lake just spat out whatever i tried getting down under. I even tried swimming but I just got tossed back to the shore like a fraatz in a hurricane!" He stated, referencing yet another unknown creature. 

        Once back in the hangers where the pillow nests where set up, Pidge dropped immediately. Luckily this time around she didn't ache or hurt. She was just tired. And happy. Also hungry but Coran was fixing that dilemma at the moment. As her and Shiro were still lions, they got their share of raw meat while Hunk Keith Lance and Allura had to deal with the foul smelling substance (It reminded Pidge of molded yogurt) that the orange haired Altean had dished out for them. 

        "Why must you torture us like this-" Hunk complained. "It smells like old socks and hot dog water. No offence, Coran." The yellow paladin pointed out when the accused Altean squinted at him.

        Keith and Lance ended up competing as always to see who could finish the smelly dish first. 

        "Hey Hunk, why don't you show them who the real winner is~?" Pidge teased, licking her maw clean from her gorey meal. Hunk squinted at her. 

        "What do i get out of it?" The yellow paladin asked, eyeing both her and the weird food.

        "I can tell you how to get the food goo to taste like vanilla pudding. I figured it out last week." The green lion answered with a smirk.

        "Winner gets the pudding code!" Lance announced, digging into his plate like a starving madman. Keith was close behind. Hunk made up his mind and tied his hair back with the orange headband he always wore.

        "Oh it's on-"

\---One hour later---

        In the end Hunk ended up winning. Hunk being Hunk shared the flavor coding with Keith and Lance. Coran, content with the fact that they had eaten his weird concoction let them have the vanilla flavored food goo as a dessert of some sort. Settling down for the night, Hunk and Allura claimed Shiro as a pillow while Lance and Keith opted to bunk with Pidge. By now they had all grown accustomed to their little sleep piles on top of one another.

        Tired from carrying Lance, Keith was out like a light the moment he had gotten comfy on Pidge's left side, curled against her flank as he snored softly. He was far less intimidating in his sleep then when he was awake. Shiro Hunk and Allura had fallen asleep at some point as well. Lance sat propped up against her right side, but yet he did not sleep. Instead, the blue paladin of Voltron gazed at the ceiling as if lost in thought. 

        "What.....what did you see in the shrine, if you don't mind me asking?" Lance asked Pidge, breaking the silence that had settled among them. Pidge moved her head to where she could look at him. With the lights dimmed, Lance could not see her, but she could very clearly see him. But even as she gazed at his face, she could not read his emotions. He looked, dull.

        "I saw my family. Mom, dad, and my brother Matt." Pidge replied. "They told me to let go of them, but only for now. That i would be able to find them eventually, but that i had a mission. A fate to fulfill before I can fulfill my own quest to find them." At her words a gentle smile crossed over Lance's tired face. 

        "I saw two things. The first one was each one of you guys, telling me that i wasn't needed on the team, that i wasn't special. That you were all better than me, and better without me." He said. Pidge was about too speak up when he shook his head to silence her. She let him continue. "Then you guys talked to me when I woke up. YOU talked to me. Thank you for that, Pidge."

        She smiled, reflecting Lance's own. He continued speaking. "The second one was of my family back on earth. They told me that i was loved, no matter where I was in space or time. That i had people who were there, looking out for me. That i had family. You guys. My team. You're my family." Lance finished. The paladin looked on the verge of tears, yet they were happy tears. 

        "Does that make me your sibling then?" Pidge asked with a small tease. Lance chuckled and ruffled the fur on her head.

        "Yeah, i guess it does."


	34. A Helping Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More Keith and Pidge bonding!

The princess awoke long before the paladins had and decided to head up to the control room where her uncle figure was probably at. The two decided it best and then moved the castle ship to the next shrine location. However, him and Allura were mildly concerned. There were only two shrines left, but only one could be seen When they arrived and got a visual, the two Alteans frowned when they realized that the shrine they could find was in fact the shrine of Spirit. Shiro's shrine.

However if they completed that shrine first, then that would leave Pidge on her own as a lion. Allura didn't want to take that risk. Leaving Pidge on her own was risky even if the whole group stayed together. As lions, they were vulnerable. They couldn't pilot the voltron pilots, they couldn't use their bayards. And Pidge being the youngest needed to be able to do those things in order to protect herself. The green paladin was smart, yes, but she was also one of the weakest.

"We'll discuss this with Shiro before we tell Pidge. He'll probably hold off on his shrine until we locate Pidge's trial." Allura said in an almost sad voice. The green paladin had pride, and if she found out about this, then it would surely do more damage than good. Coran saw her pint and nodded in agreement. 

"Number five won't be happy when she finds out." The mustached Altean pointed out to the princess. 

"If she finds out. I don't like the idea, but we may have to lie to her until we can find the her trial. I am unsure as to why we cannot find it with the scanners." Allura looked t the hologram map in front of her with four color coded markings. The black marker point was right beside where the castle sat while the other three showed where they had already been. "Maybe we need to try a different type of scan?" She asked. Coran shook his head. They had already scanned with every option they had available.

"Maybe we're just supposed to find it on our own." A voice said behind them. Turning around, Coran and Allura saw that Shiro had somehow found a way through the castle that he could fit through. Either that or he took the route he used normally to get to the lion hanger, just reversed. The hallways there were probably large enough.

"Ah! I see you're awake. How was your sleep cycle?" Coran asked. "Probably would have been better if you had eaten some of my wondrous Altean food. Too bad your carnivorous digestive system wouldn't handle it-" He muttered. The man was proud of his cooking, so Shiro let him complain

"I slept fine. The others are still resting however. Have you located the next shrine?" Moving to the center of the room, Shiro sat with his paws beneath him neatly, massive wings closed behind him as the long feathers dragged across the smooth polished floor. Allura found herself staring for a moment too long before answering. 

"Yes, about that. We found one of the shrines. The trial of Spirit to be specific." She explained. 

"Oh." Was all he said. The massive beast looked to the floor thoughtfully. The same thoughts Allura had moments ago crossed into his mind. "We can't let Pidge know. If she finds out then she'll refuse to wait. I won't put her in danger like that. I can't. I made a promise and i wont break it." Long ago, back when he first found out that Pidge was Sam Holt's daughter, he made a vow to keep the youngest paladin as safe as he possibly could, to watch over her until they found her family. "We know nothing of what's in these trials, and if something happens i don't want her to be the last one left as a lion. It's too risky. She isn't strong enough."

"For now, we'll just wait to find her shrine until we move on to yours. I know not how long that will take, however. We can't stay on this planet for much longer as the universe does need it's savior. We have priorities above this trial." She explained. Shiro nodded. 

Little did they know, Shiro was not the only lion to have awoken and seek out the princess. She sat just outside of the main control room, listening and hearing every word that the two leaders had discussed. And Pidge was mad. They had no right to say that she was weak. Pidge had handled her fair share of fights with the enemy just as the others had.

And she would prove it.

Leaving Shiro and Allura, Pidge crept her way back through the halls of the massive castle back down the hangers where the others were still asleep. She did not see Keith, however. He must have went to the training deck or to the kitchen for a morning snack.

Looking to the hanger doors, Pidge made up her mind. She would prove that she was strong. That she could be as strong as the others. Pidge would prove that she was not only brains but brawn as well. Quietly, she walked over to the door panel and placed her paw on it to open the massive doors.

The green lion let out a hiss of anger when the door did not react to her paw.

"Need a hand?" Keith asked from behind her. Pidge mewled in surprise, shocked at how stealthy the red paladin could be sometimes. "I heard the conversation. You're not the only one who likes to eave's drop on the Princess. I want in on whatever you're doing, for one. For two, looks like you could use some help." He said.

Pidge only growled. "I don't want help. I'm doing this for me." She stated. The lion swerved her head back to face the panel and she tried her paw again. The same results happened. Nothing.

"And i'm bored. Besides, i'm the reckless one. It's my job to get into trouble so i want in. It's not fair what they said about you and i want to see how this plays out. I won't get in your way. That and you cant open the door with a paw."

Realizing he was right, Pidge sighed. "Fine." She said reluctantly. "On one condition though."

"Yeah?" He asked, raising an eyebrow curiously at her request.

"You help me get this quiznaking tracker collar off. It's starting to itch."


	35. Finding The Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge puts her smarts to use! Also Keith can be an @sshole sometimes

A few short minutes later Keith had managed to remove the collar from Pidge without destroying it. He ended up stashing the collar in one of the air vents so the rest of the team wouldn't figure out their plan immediately. That is IF they figured out Pidge's plan. 

Despite Keith explaining why he was coming with, Pidge had no idea why he wanted to come. It would have been much easier for the red paladin to stay at the castle instead of through the lush forest early in the morning. And in all honesty, Pidge didn't really want him to come.

This was her mission, her time to prove herself that she was just as strong as the others. Sure, she was smaller and built more for passive objectives, but she could fight just as well as any of the others. But the others? They didn't seem to think the same thing. Keith claimed he didn't, but even Pidge knew that deep down, he knew he was stronger than her. If for some reason they had ever gotten into a fight, he would surely win.

"You know, the best option would have probably been to stay at the castle and find your shrine from there." Keith pointed out as he followed behind the green furred lion. Even though she had been the smallest of the pride she compared in size to that of a small horse. After all of the piggy back ride's she had given out in the last few days, the green paladin sure felt like a horse at this point. 

"The shrine would have shown up on the scanners by now if we could find it from there. On foot with our eyes is the best option we have." She pointed out, ducking under a low hanging tree branch. "Besides, i already said that i have to do this on my own. I'm still not sure why you wanted to come with me, really." 

"Do you even know where you're going?" He asked, moving to walk beside the lion when one too many branches smacked him in the face. She ignored him in favor of dodging another branch and letting him smack into it. Pidge smirked a bit when he grumbled in frustration. The smirk, however, fell to a look of surprise followed by a frown when Kieth gave up on walking at all on hopped onto her back to hitch a free ride.

"I have rough idea where to look." Pidge commented once Keith was situated on her back. "I'm not sure if you noticed, but all of the shrines so far are fairly close together. All 4 of the one's we've located are all north of that massive tree that vitea lives in. And they all seemed to be withing a days range of walking. So if i'm correct, we sould find it in less than a few hours." Remembering the locations on the map on the castle bridge, the four located shrines had been in a tall trapezoid shape. Going with geometry to figure it out, The green lion guessed that her shrine was located somewhere between the Hunk and Keiths shrines. It seemed the most logical location.

However, that location was also very close to the massive tree she mentioned moments ago. If it was there, then how had they not seen it when they first started searching? Or even when they had first arrived (Well, crashed) on the planet? 

She soon found out and her questions were answered. As it turns out they had been much closer to the massive meteor pit than she originally thought. Either that or they had been walking for hours already and didn't realize it. 

The shrine was not there. "No... i thought for sure that it would-" Pidge cut herself off as she looked around the cliff that suddenly appeared before them. Keith struggled to hold on as she trotted around the edge. Searching the trees, ground, and even over the side of the cliff, the lion found nothing. 

"You know, we could always just head back to the castle." Keith pointed out, a bored expression on his face. By now Pidge realized it was a bad idea to bring him and he was being just as annoying as Lance could be sometimes. Not saying that Lance was annoying, but he COULD be annoying at times. Besides that, Keith was never the one to back down or give up, even if it wasn't his mission.

And then it hit her like a brick to the face. He was toying with her, testing if she would give up or not and ask for help. "No, I've got this. My trial is most likely a trial for intellect, considering that it's one of the main traits for the green lion. So, i just need to use what i know, to figure out what i don't know."

Pidge sat down, letting Keith hop off as she closed her eyes to think for a moment. This was the trial meant for the green paladin, the trial of nature. So maybe it was somewhere with a lot of plant growth? No, that would be too obvious, and the entire planet was covered in dense forest other than the volcano area. Was it in the great tree? Vitea was in there and there had only been the one opening in the tree, so that option was also a no.

Looking up the tree, Pidge squinted. What kind of tree was the massive plant? It looked like a massive pine tree that was missing all of it's lower branches, and had wide leaves instead of pine needles. But it looked rather.....familiar almost. The shape of the tree. 

Deep in her mind she felt a rumbling purr from her lion back at the castle, and in image was shown to her. The symbol of the guardian of nature. The symbol of the green paladin. It was the shape of a pine tree. The shape itself was basic, and had 6 points. And the bottom 5 matched with the points located on the map of the planet. The tree, and the four shrines they had scanned for. But yet, one point was missing. 

There very tip of the symbol on the map was where she would find the trial of knowledge.


	36. Thing Go Wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remember back when Shiro said that things don't always go according to plan? Yeeeeaaaah that was a foreshadowing of this chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many of you wanted to know what Pidge looked like so a i drew up a quick picture of her for you guys!

 

By the time Pidge and Keith had gotten close to the actual location of the shrine, the sun had set and the three moon rose once again high into the star filled sky. At some point during the walk Keith had climbed up and Pidge's back as he felt too lazy to walk. Pidge didn't really mind. Because of the size difference his weight was nothing to her. 

        "So what do you think is going to be in the shrine?" The red paladin asked as Pidge picked her way through a cluster of bushes.

        "Considering it a shrine of brains, it's most likely going to be a puzzle or a code. It was a puzzle to find out where the shrine even was." A cold breeze rushed through the trees, ruffling her fur. The fuzz was thick enough to where she nearly felt nothing, but she did feel Keith shiver a bit. "You cold?" She asked to him.

        "Just a bit. Once we get in the shrine and out of the wind i should be fine." He commented. "Speaking of the shrine, don't all five of us need to be there to complete it?" 

        Pidge simply nodded. "When we get there we can flag down the castle. I'm pretty sure they're already coming to our location since they have bio locators on the castle. I would know, i designed them. And we're close to the shrine so all we have to do when we get there is wait. Then I can show them that i can do things on my own. I found the shrine on my own. I didn't even use any tech this time!" The lions fur fluffed up with a bit of excitement and pride in her declaration.

        "Shiro's going to freak out over you running off. You remember when Allura and I took that pod when we thought Zarkon was tracking us?"

        The lion nodded for a second time. "Yeah, he was NOT happy. But i needed to do this. I don't care of he gets mad. As a leader he needs to see that i can do things without any help. I don't always need someone to be watching me or protecting me. Every time he gives me a solo mission, it's always the easy job. I hate it." 

        "Shiro isn't trying to say that you're weak. He just cares about you. Your like a daughter to him and he doesn't want you getting hurt." Keith pointed out, leaning forward so she could hear him better. 

        "Heh, since when do you give the pep talks? Hm?" Pidge asked with a smirk, turning to face him. Keith rolled his eyes.

        "Great, now i'm acting like him-" The lion let out a chuckle as Keith let out an exasperated groan of realization.

        "Also, if he see's me as a daughter, and he's like a brother to you, does that make you my uncle?" The question lingered in the air as the two sat there in thought. When the silence did break, however, it was hilarious. 

        "Holy crow you're right oh my god-" He choked out with wide eyes. "That is just weird and awkward to think about. I don't want to be your uncle-" While her friend was freaking out, Pidge was laughing her tail off at the discovery they had made.

        Her laughter died out abruptly when the scenery before her changed from dense forest, to barren burnt ashen grey dirt. "Keith....? I think we're here." She said in a small voice that did not fit her massive feline form. Keith stopped his rant and layed wide eyes upon the same place that Pidge was looking at.

        The shrine was there, but it was buried with burnt plants and logs. Even some stones and boulders were scattered across it. The area of charred ground looked a couple hundred feet in radius around the pile that was tossed there.

        "It looks like an explosion." Keith stated, hopping from Pidge's back. When his boots hit the earth a cloud of dark grey ash puffed up before drifting away in the breeze. He kneeled down and touched the ground as he looked around. "It's still warm. Whatever happened, it happened recently." He declared.

        "What the heck would have caused an explosion like this? There's nothing on this planet but us and a ton of plants. And that weird bug thing we fought back before the first shrine. Unless-"

        "The galra." Keith finished for her. His eyes were quick to look up at the dark nighttime sky, looking for any ships. It was too dark to see anything up there, even with the light of three moons.

        "How did they know we were here? Or even that the shrine was here?" Pidge asked. "It can't be tracked!" Suddenly she found arms wrapped around her maw, shutting her up. With the newfound silence, she found that Keith was trying to listen for something. He sensitive ears swiveled to try and find what he had hear. Slowly the arms moved, and Keith pointed to a bush. 

        Before either of them could make a move, a barrage of galra soldiers burst from the treeline across the burnt area, rushing at them with weapons powered up.

        "Get to cover!" Keith yelled. Quickly the two of them turned heel and dove behind the biggest tree that was close to them. "I knew we should have dropped those galra that were at the giant tree, they must've got loose and called for backup!" 

        Pidge let out a growl of frustration. "What do we do!? There's like 20 of them, probably more, and two of us! And i don't exactly have a weapon!" She roared out.

        "I'll take out the one's on the left, you get the guys on the right. You have teeth, use them!" He hollered over the gunfire that was aimed at their hiding spot.

        "That's the dumbest plan i have ever head, but screw it!" With a furious roar, Pidge leaped form her hiding spot while Keith jumped the other way to draw the gunfire away from her. Using the distraction, the green lion jumped on the closest soldier, winding them easily and knocking them out. 

        She was able to take down 6 more soldiers without having to use her teeth before the gunfire started to aim at her once again. But something was off about the shots being fired. They were't the typical purple that the laser guns usually shot out. Instead they had a blueish green tint, and made a small whistling noise.

        Pidge realized all too late that they were darts when on pricked her right in the jugular. With a strangled mewl, Pidge fell on her side as she suddenly became very dizzy. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Keith fall in a similar manner as a ship appeared above them, more soldiers hopping out.

        As the last of her thoughts faded away, Pidge felt herself being dragged away onto the ship.


	37. Caged

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge just wants one good nights sleep-

 

   Getting sick and tired of the rude awakenings in the past week, Pidge vowed to sleep for a whole months after this whole trial and lion thing was over. She had either woken up early, in a pile, or in the middle of a fight.

        This time she woke up on the cold metal floor of a galra prison cells will a muzzle bound tight across her snout. The tight leather feeling straps dug into the back of her skull to a point where it burned. Sitting up with a low growl, Pidge looked around the cramped cell that she had been locked in. Keith was nowhere in sight and there weren't any guards either. 

        Once she stood all the way up, her head spun from the leftover effects of the tranquilizer dart she had been shot with. How long had it been? Judging by the fact that the gravity in the cell felt far from artificial, the ship she was imprisoned on was still on the planet. That was good. It meant she could still escape without the use of a pod that she would definitely not fit in.

        But right now her first priority was finding Keith. And to do that she had to get out of the cell. Luckily for her the cell had a wall consisting of bars instead of being one solid room, which meant she could probably just break the door down. Breaking the door would mean a running start since she wasn't very big, but the room she was in was small. If the green furred lion layed down flat, her nose would be on one end and the tip of her tail on the other. Another option was to grab a guard walking by and use their hand to unlock the door. Pidge liked that option. 

        Unfortunately, to damped her good luck down to bad, it wasn't a guard who made their way to her cell. She had never seen him in person, but there was no mistaking who the tall white haired galra was. Backing up with a low hiss, Pidge fluffed up to make herself seem intimidating.

        Lotor, the galra prince, only chuckled at her attempts to seem like a threat. He was unfazed. "I see you're awake, paladin. I'm betting you have questions as to why you're hear. Am i right, hm?" The only answer he received was a snarl. Lotor wouldn't understand her if she spoke anyways. Only Allura and her fellow paladins could understand one another. 

        "Well, i have questions of my own. My biggest one is how you ended up well, like this." Lotor gestured to her as he spoke with a dark chuckle that sent shivers down Pidge's spine. "I know you weren't always like this. A paladin can't exactly fly a lion of voltron with paws and a tail. So what happened?" Lotor had stepped closer to the bars and Pidge backed away. Her back legs were pressed against the wall as far back as her body would allow. If Lotor wanted to he could have easily reached in and touched her. And Pidge hoped that the half galra would do just that so she could take a bite out of his arm.

        "Not much of a talker i see. Either that or you lost your conscious mind along with your body. It looks to me as if your just a beast now. But if you do know who i am and what i'm saying, know this paladin, all beasts can be broken and tamed." The smirk dropped to almost a scowl on Lotors face and Pidges ears flattened as she growled again. "Let's test that shall we?"

        Taking the intimidating aura with him, Lotor left Pidge alone.

        She relaxed with a heavy sigh from the breath she didn't even realize she was holding. Man that guy was creepy as hell. What creeped her out the most though was the fact that he looked nothing like Zarkon despite being his son. At this point Pidge doubted if they were related at all.

        Instead of thinking about that, Pidge moved away from the wall and pressed her head to the bars. When she turned her head sideways, the lion found that she could fit her head between the metal spaces to peer down the hallway. There seemed to be other cells along the walls similar to her own. The one's in front of her that she could see into were empty. but she wasn't sure about the rest. "Keith?" She called out. Her growls and meows were muffled by the muzzle, but it was clear enough.

        The relief she felt when the paladins voice answered was like water after a hot day. "Pidge?" He asked. Judging by volume, Pidge guessed he was 2 or three cells over. "Good to hear your not dead." He said with a hint of sarcasm. 

        "Same with you." Pidge replied. "How long have you been up?" She asked. Luckily the ship was quiet and no one else was in the prison but them so their conversation could be held without yelling. 

        "A few minutes. Long enough to eavesdrop on Lotor." He stated. "I'm worried though because the way he said tame makes me wonder if he wants you as a pet or something." The though made Pidge cringe. Now that would just be creepy. "But i think we can use that." 

        "Use the idea of me as a pet cat? I don't think so." Pidge commented, pawing at her muzzle to try and pry it off with no success.

        "Think about it. If you play along and let him think your just a mindless animal, you can earn his trust and that might get you a chance to get out of here. We already know he can't understand you so that's a bonus for us. And if you get out, you can come get me out and then we both high tail it out of here and back to the castle with the other." The red paladin explained. The more Pidge thought about, the more it made sense. With a growl she realized that it was their best option.

        "Fine. But if he tries to pet me im biting his hand off." Pidge declared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a rough idea for what im doing to the next few chapters, but i have a debate. Lotor is obviously going to test to see if Pidge still has a human consciousness. Should he test it by, i don't know, putting her into a fight against a certain fluffy eared general we all know and love? It would literally be a cat fight.


	38. Waiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I did not finish hunk in time! His picture will be done by the next chapter though!

As it turned out, Lotor did not know that Pidge wasn't just a wild animal now. When the half galra looked at her, he saw a feral beast. He couldn't see the human in her eyes. But he wasn't one to fall for tricks. And so, he tested her.

The first test came around when a few sentries came by to feed them. Knowing their were cameras, Pidge snarled at the robots and refused to eat the cheap space prison food that looked more like brown slime. Even if she had been human at the time Pidge doubted she would eat such a foul smelling thing. The lion could even hear Keith gag from down the hall.

The galra sentries tried a few different (Still gross) foods before Lotor himself could be seen marchng down the hall with something more appetizing in his hands.

At first, Pidge had backed up and growled again, but her growl quieted down to a low snarl when she saw that what he had was a simple slab of raw meat similar to what she had been eating at the castle. And she was very, very hungry. Since she was far larger than a normal lion she also far more easily famished. 

She expected the prince to just toss the meat in and watch to see what she did, but instead Lotor sent the guards away and approached the bars of her cell. Once close enough to touch the bars, he kneeled and stuck his arm right into the cage with the meat dangling from his hand. 

Remembering to put on a show, she lunged with a roar, swiping at the meat with extended claws. The moment her claws snagged into th soft raw meat, Lotor let go and backed away. A smirk was engraved onto his face. Keeping her act up, Pidge tore into the raw meal ravenously as if she had been starved.

"You really have lost your mind, paladin." He seemed almost.........pleased, with this conclusion that he had made. With another devilish smirk, Lotor stood to his full very tall height. "You're nothing but an animal now."

Leaving Pidge to eat, the galra prince turned and walked away down the hall he had first showed up through. Once he was gone, the lion slowed down on her meal. Surprisingly now that she could eat without choking it down, the lion realized that the meat was fresh. The meat had been retrieved just for her. And that meant that she was a top priority for whatever Lotor was doing.

And she hoped to god it didn't involve being a mount for him because she was fed up with giving her teammates a ride and she was not about to give Lotor a piggy back ride. 

"Pidge, you good?" Keith called from his cell. Pidge quickly downed the last few bites of her meal before answering.

"Yeah. How about you?" She asked. 

"This food is worse than Corans cooking." The red paladin admitted. It took a lot to out gross Coran's food.

"Well, we'll be out of here soon and then we can have Hunk whip up something when we're all human again." The lion replied. She padded over to a corner and layed down on the cold metal ground. "Hopefully." She added quietly.

"Hey, don't say that. We'll be fine. Either we get out of here on our own, or Shiro and the others will come get us." Keith intervened, voice suddenly more stern than it had been moments ago. "We'll get out of here, i promise." 

Pidge smiled. It was rare that anyone got to see the more soft side of the red paladin. These trials were meant for all five of them, but they seemed to have affected Keith the most. While he was still the same old emo they all knew and loved, he was more considerate. Ever since they had been to Hunk's shrine Keith realized he didn't need to be so tough all the time.

And Pidge had realized the same thing. This whole time she had been trying to prove that she was strong when she didn't have to. She was strong in her own unique way other than fighting power. The green lion of voltron had chosen her because she refused to stand down or give up. Like nature itself, she was resilient and always grew back stronger than before.

"Ok." She replied. "If we don't get out and i end up stuck as a pet or a lion skin rug, i blame you." Pidge smiled when she heard Keith chuckle from his cell.

"You sound like Lance." He said after a moment of laughter. "Terrible jokes even when we're stuck in a bad situation."

"He tends to rub off on people like that. It's just his thing i guess." 

Leaving the conversation at that, Pidge rested her head onto her fluffy paws and let her eyes close as a wave of tiredness washed over her. Not only had she been awake pacing all day, but the dart had done more damage than she thought, leaving her exaggerated despite not moving as much as she normally would have. 

The lion sighed as she thought about what the others were doing. Looking for them, obviously. Allura would be trying to locate her from the collar that Keith had removed, Coran would be helping her. Lance would probably be trying to calm Hunk down from crying or something like that. He had a habit of letting tears spill when anything went wrong with the team. 

Shiro would be pacing with worry. Probably anger that he couldn't do more. It was hard to be defenders of the universe when you're covered head to toe in fur with a set of massive feathered wings. He would be waiting for someone to give him something useful to do. Waiting for an order that normally he would be giving. If possible Shiro probably would have been in the black lion and crashing right into the prison he team members were in.

Unfortunately, he had to wait. They all had some waiting to do.


	39. Victory or Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay but here is the chapter as promised! The drawing of Hunk will be in the chapter tomorrow!

Since there were no sentries guarding the hallway or their cells, Pidg and Keith had no way of telling how much time had passed. It had gotten rather boring trying to count the ticks that went by or tapping the floor so in the end they gave that up. Going with another plan, Pidge stuck her head through the bars once again to watch as Keith tried to hack into the hand scanner lock on his cell. In the end however he only managed to electrocute himself and set off a rather annoying alarm.

Once the alarms had been shut off, Lotor once again decided to give them a visit. Specifically Keith this time.

"You know, i have only ever known a small amount of humans, which consists of you paladins. And i must say that your species is quite and idiotic one." The prince spoke with an eyebrow raised almost curiously, but mostly annoyed. Pidge still had he head between the bars, peering down the hallway at the tall white haired galra.

"If we were idiots we wouldn't just sit around either." Keith barked back, voice dripping with a sated hatred. "What do you even want with us? All you've done so far is just keep us locked up."

"Well, i was waiting for your fellow paladins to come and rescue you, but there had been a minor change in plans." Lotor turned to look at Pidge with a grin that had her fur standing up on end. "And it all involves your green friend over there."

"No offense but she really isn't much use to you as a giant cat." Keith pointed out. Pidge felt a bit of offense, but knew he was only putting up a facade for Lotor. If he found out she still had conscious thought, that would tear away one of their best advantages. 

"We'll see about that." Turning to fully face Pidge, he began walking down the hall towards her small cell. The lion growled and pulled her head back through the bars so quickly that she nearly got her head stuck in the process. By the time Lotor was at her cell she had backed all the way against the wall with a low drawn out snarl leaving her throat.

The Galran prince walked over to one of the walls and typed in something on one of the various key pads. Moments later, a group of sentries holding thick ropes and a muzzle appeared by his side. And Pidge growled. Oh HELL no.

"Wait, what are you doing with her?" Keith asked from his own cell. 

"Nothing that concerns you, red paladin. I can assure you friend here will return in once piece. However, how badly damaged of a piece is up to her." With the flick of his hand, the sentries opened the cell and poured into the small space. Pidge stood no chance as she could barley move at all in such a closed area. She was easily overpowered by the robotic guards within a few short moments. 

Pidge growled and snarled the whole time, but her noises were muffled as the muzzle strapped her jaw shut to a point where her teeth were clamped together painfully. The only noise the green furred lion could make was a pitiful mewl as the sentries bound her legs and paws tight against her body. She instead showed her anger by angrily thrashing her tail. 

Once she was contained, her fur was dirtied as the the guards dragged her out of the cell. Now is out of her cell, Keith could see what had happened.

"What are you doing with her!?" He demanded. The paladin was not about to let his friend be dragged off. Unfortunately for the both of them he was stuck in a barred cell. 

"Don't worry, you'll see her very soon. Remember what i said about any beast being tamed?" Lotor asked, turning back to face Keith as the guards dragged Pidge off. 

"I swear in the name of king Alfor himself, if you touch a single fur on her body, you'll have more than just me to worry about." Keith swore under his breath as the Lotor and his friend vanished.

Meanwhile, as Keith brooded angrily, Pidge was terrified. She couldn't do anything, helpless as she was dragged across the ships cold metal floor. 

The green paladin did her best to tell which way the turns were in case she managed to get free that way she could get back to Keith. In the end she was kind of glad that he had tagged along. Sure it sucked they were here, but at least she wasn't alone. 

At least up until now.

At some point the hallway split into 2 separate halls. Lotor turned down one while Pidge was dragged down the other. Oh how badly she wanted to bite him. The moment they got out of this she was going to personally track him down and have Green step on him.

Pidge ended up being dragged into a smaller more dark hallway that looked more like a hanger. Inside of the small area shocked her more than being kidnapped had. Standing before her were prisoners. The had clothes similar to the ones she had seen her brother Matt wearing in the video feed she had. Dark black body suits and a tattered purple shirt above it.

The sentries removed her muzzle and most of her bindings after strapping a thick collar around her neck and chaining her to the wall. Whirling around, she barley nicked one of the guards with her claws as she roared as loud as she could. It pained her to see the frightened look on the other prisoners faces at her feral sounds, but she had an act to keep up. 

And realization hit her like a brick. This was an arena. The same kind of place Shiro and her family had been trapped in. They were going to make her fight. 

She was going to have to kill someone to get out of here alive.


	40. He Shall Bear His Fangs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This get violent  
> Also Hunk drawing is not done yet sadly!

Once the sentries had Pidge chained to the wall, they left her there with the other chained up prisoners to watch the current battle just a few yards away from them. Some seemed terrified of the fight, others were terrified of her. But a select few looked as if they had given up and were just sitting, waiting for their turn to enter the ring which lead to a nearly guaranteed death.

It pained her to see them like this. While she had organically wanted to find her family and head back to earth, her purpose now was to save people like this. And now instead of being able to save them, Pidge was among them. And yet they were frightened of her. These prisoners did not know who she was, they only saw something that might have to face later in a battle. And odd of something like her winning looked high.

Realizing that no guards were in the area for now, she stopped growling and forced herself to appear more relaxed. At first it did nothing to sooth the scared aliens, but once she pressed herself to the floor as far from them as the chain would let the large feline go a few of them visibly relaxed. She wasn't a threat, at least not for now.

"Greetings, loyal followers." Lotors voice spilled into the arena just outside of the door, causing Pidge's ears to perk up in surprise. "I have brought quite the show for you tonight. As you all know, we have recently captured two of the Voltron paladins." A cheer erupted from the crowd for a moment before Lotor silenced them. "The green paladin has been turned into a beast. And you know what we do with beats~" 

Pidge growled when she could almost hear the smirk in his voice as the crowd of soldiers cheered once more. It made her sick.

"And now, i present to you, Voltron's precious green paladin." Two sentries suddenly walked into the room and Pidge was on her feet, growling and snarling once again. Some of the prisoners backed away from both her and the sentries as the chaos ensued. One of the robotic guards successfully held her maw shut while the other grabbed the chain around her neck and started pulling. Being roughly the size of a horse, it looked kind of rediculous seeing a sentry on it's tippy toes practically hugging her face.

Not wanting to accidentally hurt one of the other innocent creatures in the room, she barley put up a fight other than a few tugs and growls against the guards.

In no time, they tossed her into the arena and un-clipped the chain, letting her run free in the dirt floor pit. She took off immediately, lion instincts glad to be in a more open space. The arena had thick stone pillars place randomly across the massive room and hid blinding lights shining from above. Surrounding the arena itself was rows upon rows of galra filled seats.

At the sight of her, they let out shouts and boo's off disappointment and hatred instead of cheering. Keeping her wild animal facade up, she cowered a bit. Animals surrounded by lights and noise wanted to hide typically. So she raced over one the pillars and crouched into a small shadow, growling with fangs bared and tail thrashing.

"Lowered to nothing but an animal. Willingly i might add. How disappointing. Shall we see if she can put on a good show?" Lotor asked. In response the massive amount of soldiers hollered and howled excitedly, rearing up for the fight. 

Across the arena, opposite of the way Pidge entered, another massive door slid open and a deep mechanical grow filled the whole arena. The entire stadium went silent as they waited to see her opponent.

A heavy clicking noise similar to tapping on wood seeped it's way into the silence and Pidge dropped her ears when the creature stepped into the bright lights of the arena. At the sight of it she nearly fainted.

Of course, it had to be a giant scorpion. The one creature she hated the most on earth. And of course, like the giant mosquito Shiro killed back before their first trial, the thing was the size of a quiznaking house. 

This scorpion appeared to be mechanically modified and had two glowing metal claws instead of crab claws, and four back legs instead of 6. The tail however looked relativity normal with the exception of it being covered in tiny spines that were definitely venomous. 

With a surprised growl, Pidge realized the whole time she had been thinking, the creature had only walked closer and was readying to attack her. Quickly she dashed from her spot by the pillar and far away to the other end of the room. She couldn't fight this thing. It was far to fast, large, and venomous against her small claws and teeth. The lion doubted her claws could pierce the thick black armor.

Quickly, Pidge realized the scorpion was faster than her by a lot and with a cry of pain, she felt a burning stab of pain right below her rib cage as the creature swung at her. It hooked into her skin and sent her flying to the right. 

"How disappointing, she won't even face it." Lotor teased, causing a wave of amused laughter from the crowd. Infuriated, Pidge ran forward, ignoring the burning pain of the glowing stab would. It reminded her of the injury Shiro had gotten a while ago from Zarkons witch that one time.

The small green lion let out a loud snarl that she didn't even know she could make as she turned to face the large monster. It made a hissing sound at her and charged. Once close enough, Pidge dodged a strike from it's tail and jumped at it's face. Anywhere else was to strong to break through.

Thoroughly disgusted, Pidge bit into what appeared to be an eye and pulled. The creature hissed used a claw to stab into her leg and rip her free from it's face. Now in twice as much pain, Pidge turned to limp away. The monster for the moment cowered as well and screeched over it's lost eye. 

Of of trouble for now, Pidge let out a disdained growl when she realized it had only been a few minutes her chances of winning were already low. At least she partially blinded it. Only at the cost of a broken rib, damaged internal organs and an impaled limb however. 

If it's one thing Pidge knew best it was percentages, and her percentage of winning was very, very low.

 

\---Back at the cells---

Keith paced back and forth in his cells, Occasionally he would hear the distant shouts of the galra confirming what he thought. They had out her in the arena like a damned show animal.

With a furious yell, he kicked at the bars, knowing they wouldn't budge. His friend, his team member, his family was out there getting hurt and he could do nothing about it. He felt so useless and it was making him mad.

"Where are you guys!?" He shouted to the ceiling as if Shiro or Allura could hear him. But it was not them who answered his call.

'Fear not paladin. You are not alone. You never have been. Call deep to into your spirit, find the lion i have helped you awaken. Bear your fangs.' A familiar voice filled Keiths head, making him stop his pacing. It was vitae. That weird dragon thing that had turned them into lions. 

"Wait what do you mean?" The paladin asked. He received now answer from the dragon, but from the very lion he had bonded to and piloted and bonded with for the past few months. A deep growl filled his head, both ferocious and comforting to him. 

Keith let his eyes shut as both Lion and Paladin used their bond to mend as one. Using the very gift he had received from his own triat of instinct, Keith became once with his massive metal companion. And he smirked.

Lotor had made a big mistake messing with his family.

When his eyes opened once again, they burned a bright crimson red.


	41. And So We Wait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rescue time!

        Time seemed like an illusion when you were fighting for your life as it seemed. The only thing you can comprehend is how much pain you feel, how fast you can run from your enemy, and when it's your turn to strike back. 

        Pidge faintly wondered if this is what it had felt like for Shiro when he had been imprisoned for a year. If so, she suddenly gained a massive amount of respect for her leader. Shiro had always feared being caught again, and now she saw the exact reason why. 

        Dodging another glowing claw, Pidge cursed under her breath. She had to end this fight herself soon or the scorpion creature might do it for her. 

        With her current injuries, the small green lion was far to slow to even get close. Before she could even get close to the monster weak point, the creature brought it's massive stinger down and pierced her right behind her neck.

        With a cry of pain, Pidge fell off to the side. The wound did not bleed, but the small pain blossomed and spread through her body like fire leaving her helpless on the cold dirt ground. With a victorious screech, the scorpion gave up attacking, realizing he had won. Pidge lay on the ground, twitching and writhing in pain as the poison spread through her veins. 

        "It seems as if our little friend has lost this round. But we aren't done here yet. Get that thing back in its cage and get an antidote ready. I'm not finished with the paladin yet." Lotor said. Even in her pained state, Pidge heard it all and fear spread with the pain. What else did this guy want with her?

        Suddenly a massive net was cast over the scorpion, trapping it easily. A group of sentries came out into the arena, not even glancing at Pidge as she writhed in pain. Metallic footsteps cast through the quiet expanse of the room as they grabbed the net and pulled. Even the glowing burning claws could not cut through it as the monster was dragged back to the door it came from, screeching and fighting the whole way. Once the scorpion was taken care of, the sentries returned for Pidge.

        The crowd hollered angrily, all shouting that she should just be left to die, not saved to be put into battle again later. She had lost. Her opponent had won. 

        By now, the poison had spread everywhere and her body was shutting down. The only thing she could do now was twitch with a half-dead look to her amber colored eyes. One of the sentries approached her with a syringe filled with an odd-looking green liquid slouching around inside of it. 

        Not caring about her pain, the sentry reached down and grabbed a handful of her scruff before heaving her off the ground and jamming the needle into one of her arteries. The antidote hurt just as much as the venom itself did and a whole new wave of burning pain snapped her back into action.

        Jumping up with a pained yowl, Pidge mindlessly lashed out as if trying to fight the hurt itself. The guards backed off and let her jump and flail around as she clawed at herself.

        "Typically the galra way is victory or death but seeing as I have plans for you, this is different. So instead, for you, it will be obedience or pain." Lotor said with a sickening smirk, but Pidge did not hear his words as she dragged her head across the dirt. Anything at this point felt like relief against the fire in her veins.

        The words 'run' and 'hide' were the only things racing through her mind as she crashed into a wall. Pidge couldn't even see anymore.

        Eventually, her legs wore out, and the battered green blood stained lion crashed to the ground, a silent roar hanging in the air as her mouth opened and closed feebly.

        "Get her out of here. We're done for today." Lotor said, getting out of his seat to turn and walk away.

        But just as the sentries went to grab Pidge, the ground shook. Everyone paused where they stood. It was a single massive thud, so it couldn't have been an earthquake. An explosion maybe?

        Another shake ripped through the ground and alarms started to go off. Even through the pain and alarms, Pidge could hear Lotor growl in anger. "We're under attack! Get to the fighter ships now!" He yelled. Everyone was up and moving in an instant, another thud booming in their ears.

        The sentries moved quicker, each grabbing onto One of Pidge's front paws and pulling, dragging her bloodied body across the dirt. She couldn't move at all anymore. Her body was just too tired and beat up to fight back anymore. 

        Suddenly a much louder thud could be heard right outside of the arena walls. Everyone galra left in the room froze in their spots, looking around with wide eyes.

        A much smaller noise filled the now silent room, much quieter. Using the last bit of strength she had, Pidge craned her neck to look at the source of the noise.

        It was Keith. No weapon in hand and with no armor, he casually strode into the vast arena. For some reason he had his head held low, staring at the ground as he walked forwards towards Pidge and the two sentries. He stopped once all eyes were on him. And with the eyes, all of the guns in the room were trained on him as well.

        "Well, if it isn't the red paladin. I see you got out of your cage. No matter. We'll get you back in there. As I said before, humans seem to be a rather idiotic spe-"

        "Shut up," Keith said, interrupting him. The prince stuttered to a stop with his words, surprised Keith had cut him off.

        Pidge wanted to get up, to tell Keith to get out of here before they could shoot him or capture him. But she couldn't even open her eyes all the way.

        Before anyone could do anything, Keith raised a hand to the ceiling. When he looked up, Pidge saw the deep crimson red glow of her friend's eyes. When he brought his hand back down, chaos broke loose.

        A massive metal paw full of shining silvery claws smashed down through the roof, landing down right beside Keith. The soldiers in the stand of the arena started shouting and running. Even the sentries holding Pidge turned to run away.

        The red lion was here, and Keith was in control.

        Keith brought his other hand down, and Red came crashing all the way through the roof. The mechanical lion was just barely small enough to fit in the massive arena. 

        Intimidation wasn't enough as it seemed, as some of the soldiers in the arena stayed to fight and were shooting at both Keith and the massive right hand of Voltron. Ticked off, Keith swung his hand in their direction with a shout, and Red's paw followed the action, swinging out and clawing at the bleachers, successfully destroying the sentries that were shooting at him

        Looking up, Pidge managed a smirk when she realized Lotor had fled. Keith had scared him off. 

        Keith continued his attack. When he moved, the lion standing over him moved as well, and whenever the lion was hit, it was Keith that flinched. The bond went both ways, Keith had Red's strength while Red had Keith's vulnerability.

        Once the majority of the soldiers were either gone or cowering out of sight, Keith turned to Pidge. He walked over to her, eyes still glowing. Red followed, stepping carefully as to not crush either of the paladins. 

        "Pidge! You ok?" Keith asked, kneeling by her side and checking her pulse. It was there, but weak and far to slow to be healthy for something her size. "OK, bad question, you're definitely not ok. I had Red signal the castle so the others should be here soon. Until then I need to get you in Red. Can you stand?" He asked.

        With maximum effort, Pidge shook her head. Keith cursed under his breath and looked up at Red. He closed his eyes for a moment, and Pidge watched as the massive metal feline lowered it's head, touching it's chin down the ground gently behind its paladin.

        Opening his still red eyes, Keith ran into the maw of the ship to grab something. He returned a short moment later with thick strips of what looked like seat belt material.

        "This might hurt but I think it would hurt more if I just grabbed your fur." Her friend sat down beside her and started to wrap and tie the strips around her torso and shoulders similar to how a harness would work. Once Keith was satisfied with the makeshift straps, he grabbed on to them. "Sorry." He muttered before starting to pull her into the ship. 

        Since the venom was wearing off along with the antidote, she became much more aware of everything and a new wave of pain burst from her wounds as they scraped through the dirt and filth. behind her, the dirt-stained a trail of red. She could see Keith cringe with every pained noise she made. 

        To distract herself from the searing pain she instead focused on how the heck Keith was able to pull a horse sized lion on his own. Sure he was slow about it, but he shouldn't have been able to move her at all. Maybe Red had some help with that.

        Soon enough, Pidge had been dragged all the way into Red's mouth and tucked safely into one of the back corners. Using the straps from the harness, Keith tied her to a clip on the wall. "The ride out of here may be a bit bumpy, but once we're out, Lance and Hunk are going to wreck this place with Blue and Yellow while Coran and Allura wait for us at the castle." He explained.

        Having a bit more energy now, Pidge nodded.

        "Hold tight, ok? I told you I'd get us out of here." He patted one of her uninjured spots gently before standing and sprinting to the cockpit, the red color fading from his eyes. 

        Moments later the red lions' jaw slowly shut, sealing her inside with the dim blue lights. As Keith had said, the ride was a bit bumpy, but the ropes held her in place. 

        She must have passed out at some point because the next thing Pidge could remember was a blinding light and Keith at her side, untying the ropes. Someone else, Allura probably, showed up so they must have made it to the castle. A massive shadow stood off in the back, moving back and forth. Shiro. He was pacing, just as Pidge guessed he would.

        "Oh god, Pidge......" She could hear him say. Everything else passed as a faint blur and muffled voices. She could see colors though. Black, hovering by her side. Orange hair as someone tended to her wounds. Black and white as two people talked about what had happened.

        At a later point, the black had been pushed aside and her view filled with blue and yellow. Someone tried to hug her, but the shadow returned and had them back off, reminding them of what she had just gone through. it was confusing, really. When had there been this many colors around the castle? Where even were they in the castle? It couldn't have been the pod room Shiro wouldn't fit there. The control room was too far away. Maybe the hangers? Yeah, that seemed most likely.

        "Well, she's out of the danger zone for now. I can't guarantee a fast or even complete recovery though." She head Coran speaking clearly this time, right beside her head. "All we can do is wait and see." He said.

        Pidge didn't like waiting, but it seemed she had no choice as her eyes slipped shut and she succumbed to darkness once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tada! 2,000 words done! I hope you all enjoy the extra long chapter and I'm still terribly sorry for the short hiatus. Also! My art supplies art currently missing but the Hunk drawing is nearly finished! All I need now is to finish coloring it in! After Hunk, I will draw Lance, and then Shiro.  
> Also, I installed an editor app! There will no longer be spelling errors!


	42. AGAIN WITH THE AUTHORS NOTE

Ok, I'm starting to consider changing the update day to Saturday since Sunday I'm always too tired or busy to post a new chapter.

Either that or I'll do Mondays and Wednesday instead.

Oh well.

Long story short, the chapter for tonight is being postponed for a bit due to having been very busy today.

My brain is tired and cannot give you guys a good chapter.

Also, i MIGHT go on a short hiatus until March 25 since Con crunch for Shuto con has officially started for me!


	43. IMPORTANT PLEASE READ

STORY IS NOW ON HIATUS!

DO NOT PANIC, DO NOT FEAR, AS THIS WILL NOT LAST LONG!

As some of you may know, I am an annual attendee of Shuto Con. The convention takes place in roughly 3 weeks and I have MUCH work to get done for the convention in the next few weeks. Cosplay, packing, planning, shopping, paying for a hotel, all the good stuff.

So I will be putting this story on hiatus until March 27th! That is a few days after the con so I have time to settle back down and unpack.

IF YOU ARE ALSO GOING TO BE AT SHUTO CON

You will be happy to hear that I am Cosplaying as Lance and I will be hosting the Voltron photoshoot on Saturday of the con!

If you're going to be there be sure to message me so we can meet up and say hi!

For any further question feel free to comment below or message me directly!


	44. IMPORTANT UPDATE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IM BACK

STORY IS NO LONGET ON HAITUS.

NEW CHAPTER WILL BE POSTED AT ITS USUAL TIME NEXT TUESDAY AND WILL CONTINUE NORMALLY!!!

Thank you all for waiting so patiently for this story to return and i ask kindly that you wait just another 7 days!

New chapter will also include the finished drawing of Hunk!


	45. Floating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge has a face to face chat with her lion

        One of the many things Pidge absolutely loved and adored about space was the lack of gravity. Something about floating weightlessly without worry of hitting the ground amazed her to no end. She also found it to be very soothing and relaxing. Often Pidge would use her free time at the castle to just turn off the gravity in a closed off room and float around in complete silence, lost in her own thoughts.

        Before space, she could only achieve that feeling in her dreams. So it had literally been a dream come true when she discovered that zero gravity was a possibility that was easily attainable. All she had to do was ask.

        But even with the real thing, Pidge still found herself floating in her mind fairly often.

        Now just so happened to be one of those times. Only, this time she felt as though she were not alone. Someone was aimlessly drifting around the emptiness with her. The presence she felt was much larger and powerful than herself, but welcoming and familiar somehow. 

        'Greetings, my paladin.' A rumbling voice echoed through her head, distinctly female sounding and close to almost a purr. It was a voice Pidge had heard in her mind many times ever since she had found the Green lion, but never this prominent. 'Do you know where you are?' Green asked.

        "Well, I think its safe to assume I'm in my head right now." She replied, voice echo-y and distant as if she were in a massive empty room. Only, she couldn't see anything. She was floating in an empty abyss of blackness as she spoke with her lion. Since when had her mind been so empty?

        'Because little one, we are not in your mind. We are on my own. A plane that only exists between me, the other lions, and our paladins. A sacred place meant for only those who are worthy enough.' The lion replied. 'And through many trials and errors, you have proven yourself worthy many times.'

        In a bright flash of light, the weightless feeling Pidge reveled in suddenly vanished and was replaced by the all too devastatingly familiar feeling of falling. Letting out a shout, Pidge found herself able to see once more. her view was filled with the same black as before, only this time the black was littered with hundreds upon thousands of little glowing green and white specs.

        Before Pidge could get a closer look at the specs, she was dropped onto something solid. With how long she had been falling, the impact should have hurt much more than it did. Instead, the crash felt more like just rolling off of a bed onto the floor. A small thud, but there was no pain. 

        Sitting up, Pidge could hear a small chuckle from her lion. She rolled her eyes as she realized Green shared her little prankster trait. Pidge faintly wondered of Lance's lion was the same way.

        Now that the young paladin was no longer free falling or lacking sight, she took the chance to look around. The area she stood in was breathtaking. All around and above her was constellations of green stars and supernovas, lighting everything up. The ground she stood on looked as if it was made from solid water. Every small movement she made with her feet caused the water to ripple slightly, making her reflection dance and distort. 

        Looking closely at her reflection, Pidge realized that she had regained her human appearance, in her mind at least. Her form glowed dimly in the starry lighting as her hair and clothes swayed gently to a nonexistent breeze. As she looked at the mirror-like surface, she saw something else in the reflection above and behind her. Turning around she saw the Green lion in all of its glory sitting proudly, eyes locked onto her small form. 

        Sure she was always teased about being short, but it was moments like this that made her realize how small all of them really were compared to the many things found in space.

        "Why am I here?" She asked the mighty metal beast. 

        'It was a precaution I took to protect you, my child. As I am sure you are aware, your body and mind were heavily damaged when you were taken and imprisoned. The red paladin was able to free himself and then rescue you, but you were not in the best condition. As a lion you could not fit in the healing pods the Alteans have so instead you were treated by hand. As for your mind, that was left to me.' Green explained,

        "How long will that take?" Pidge asked. "And how long have I been here already?" If she had been out for more than a few hours by now that her friends would start to worry. They always worried when one of their fellow teammates were injured.

        'You have only been here for a short while, though time here is different from the physical world. Hours here could be seconds out there. As for how long you will remain, that is up to me. When your body is healed enough I shall return your consciousness to it. For now, your body is in a sleeping state as to keep your fellow paladins calm. Though your leader seems particularly impatient about your return."

        "Yeah, he's like that a lot. Shiro tends to act as a father figure towards me and the others. He looks out for us and has a bad habit of worrying too much. Though I guess he has a right to worry in this situation, heh." Pidge let out a small chuckle, sitting down on the mirror surface cross-legged and facing her lion. 

        'It is the same way with the black lion. Each lion has their distinctive traits and one of the black lions is fierce protectiveness. It may not seem like it most of the time though.' She heard Green let out a small amused rumble at the memory of when Shiro and Keith had been stranded on that one planet. Black hadn't done anything when Shiro was being attacked. But only because he knew that Keith could handle it. 'The red lion is a bit more open about his protectiveness, however. He likes to act on his own when it comes to his paladin's safety.'

        "Just like his paladin," Pidge said, voice holding amusement. It was nice to finally sit and have a face to face conversation with the lion she had been bonding with over the last year. With a frown, a barrage of questions ran through her mind. She had bonded much with Green, but yet had many questions about the robotic feline.

        'Something troubles you, my cub. What is wrong?' Green asked, a comforting purr wrapping around Pidge's tiny frame. 

        "Why me?" The girl asked. A mere child in a universe full of other people, and yet the lion had chosen her. 

        To her surprise, Green's eyes glowed a bit brighter and she lowered her head down, resting her lower jaw against the ground gently to where it was nearly touching the green paladin and Pidge stood up to fully meet the lions gaze. 

        'Because you are perfect my paladin. You may not think this, but you are strong in more ways than one. You are great in combat but also have strength in your mind and heart. You know that physical strength is not always necessary and that no matter what happens, you always find a way out of bad situations. You hold a special place with each of the other paladins and without you, things would be very different. You're special, unique. That is why I chose you to be my pilot, my paladin. Mine and mine alone."

        Pidge did not realize that she had started crying until she heard the tears drip onto their reflection below. She had heard similar words from family and close friends before, but to hear them from a mighty celestial being of a higher power had all but confirmed that they were all true, not just words of kindness. They were what defined her as a person and as a human being. 

        'Now go, show the universe who you are, and how great you are. Show them what I have shown to you, my child.'

        'My paladin, it is time to wake up'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELCOME BACK EVERYBODY
> 
> After two months of waiting, the story shall be continued! From here on out the story will continue at its normal pace until it is finished! Which shall be very soon. Only a few chapters remain my friends!


	46. SORRY

MY FREAKING WIFI GOT SHUT OFF

So the chapter will have to wait! I have no wifi at my moms house right now. I do 50/50 custody with my parents so i won't have wifi until next week. That means from now on the story will be updated every other week instead of every week.

THIS WILL HOPEFULLY BE FIXED SOON.


	47. DARN IT

        I thought it was Monday today, not Tuesday! I am so sorry! The new chapter will be posted tomorrow I swear on it! I would update it now but it's too late at night and I have other things to do. For now, I can at least post the picture of Hunk! He's finished! Finally!


	48. Awaken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge wakes up alone in the castle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lance drawing is done! Shiro is next!  
> Also, only 2 chapters left before the story is finished!

 

 

When Pidge next opened her eyes, she had expected to be laying on the hangers, covered in bandages with the others hovering around her with worry. That's usually how it went when one of them had been hurt and unable to use cryo pods. That's how it had gone for everyone else on this mission so far.

What she did not expect was to wake up and be in no pain whatsoever. She was still a lion though. Pidge didn't know why she would think otherwise, but she had hopes that she might just wake up and not be a lion one of these times. The flick of her ear proved her wrong yet again, however.

With a groan, Pidge slowly blinked her eyes open and sat up to look around. Her body was in no pain, but her mind felt kind of fuzzy and she felt rather groggy as well as if she had been sleeping for a long time. Gasping, her eyes shot wide open and she was on her feet in a moment. In the astral plane, she had no way of telling how long it had been.

She had somehow ended u in the lounge area sprawled across the cushions of the rounded couch with no one else in the room. Where was everybody?

It was unusually quiet, meaning that the ship wasn't active so they must still be on the planet. But that still didn't answer her question as to where the quiznak everyone else was. Deciding to find out herself, Pidge hopped down from the couch.

Once on the floor, she padded her way over to the lounge door (Which was wide open for some reason) and walked through. She would check the control room first since that's usually where everyone was while waiting for someone. This time they were waiting for her.

The halls were quiet as she walked through them. "Hellooooo?" She called out occasionally. "Anyone here?" Pidge asked. Each time she was answered with complete and utter silence. The ship's power was on since the lights were on, but there was no motor.

She stopped about halfway to the control room when she saw one of the airlock doors wide open, leading outside. Now that she thought about it, the doors on the way here were all wide open, as if left open for her specifically. As lions, they couldn't really use the scanners to open the doors.

Tail swishing behind her, Pidge made her way through the airlock exit and down the ramp. As it turns out, the castle had been moved in the time she was unconscious. It now sat at the base of the tree. The castle itself was only 3/4 the height of the massive wooden plant.

A small squeak snagged Pidge's attention, pupils dilating and ears perking up at the small noise. Looking over at the base of the tree, Pidge saw 4 small figures sitting side by side there. It was the space mice and it looked were waiting for her.

One thing she didn't understand was the fact that none of them could talk to the mice except for Allura, even as lions. It was just a mental bond that they had that the paladins did not. Walking over, she lowered her head to greet the mice with a quiet purr. The squeaked at her happily in response, climbing up onto her back and sitting on her head.

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to know where everyone is, would you?" She asked. In reply one of them hopped down and ran over to one of the giant roots growing into the ground with an arch underneath it. Curiosity peaking, Pidge followed the small animal to the raised root.

Once there, she found a small entrance just large enough for her to walk through is she crouched a bit. And she did just that. The little found that lead her here returned to his perch on her head as she walked passed him and into the dark tunnel. Once inside she got a scent that smelled a bit like fresh pollen and it made her sneeze, nearly losing her tiny passengers.

Within a few short minutes of walking in the curved tunnel, the opening was seen at the end with sunlight streaming in. Did she walk to the other side of the tree?

Reaching the exit, Pidge raised an eyebrow in confusion as she looked around. Somehow she had walked in a straight line for only a few moments and had ended up at the top of the tree in the exact same spot she had ended up when she was here before they had all been turned into lions.

"What the heck?" Pidge asked herself out loud. Turning around, she found that the tunnel had completely vanished. Now she was really confused.

"Aw come on I almost had it!" She heard a familiar voice yell from somewhere close. That was Lance. A few other muffled voices could be heard that had to have been the rest of the team. Walking around the trunk of the tree that was shadowed with massive green leaves, she found the entrance to the massive room where they had met Vitea before.

Like before, she found herself on a ledge looking down into the golden sunlit room with the massive flower bud hanging from the ceiling. Sitting off to the side in a neat pile was Pidge's clothes, along with Shiro's since they were the last two left as lions.

Now that she was in the room, she was pleasantly surprised when she saw Lance, Hunk, Keith, and Allura sitting in a circle with a pile of cards between them. So far it looked like Keith was winning and Allura had no clue what was going on. Shiro was lying curled up next to one of the far walls, napping peacefully with his bright and colorful wings splayed out. Coran was there as well, but he had no interest in the game as he held various scanners while he used vines to hang from the ceiling to scan the flower bud. He didn't dare touch it, but that didn't stop him from being curious.

"You've won 3 times in a row, no one does that," Lance complained to Keith. "You've gotta be cheating dude." He stated, trying to peak at Keith's hand of cards. The teen promptly leaned over to where Lance couldn't see and smirked.

"Maybe you just suck at this game," Keith commented.

"If it makes you feel any better Lance, I don't even know what game this is." Allura piped in with a shrug. Hunk placed a reassuring hang on her shoulder.

"We're playing go fish princess." The yellow paladin stated. Allura nodded, but she still looked super confused.

Deciding to have a bit of fun, Pidge crouched down low to the ground with a huge smile and started walking down to the floor of the room. She moved to where Lance couldn't see her, but Keith noticed her right away. The red paladin looked ready to jump up and announce her presence, but when he saw the smirk, the boy shut his mouth and tried not to laugh. Leaning over he nudged Hunk who sat beside him.

Looking up, Hunk saw her and then chuckled lightly. He wanted to hug her so bad, but no one interfered with her pranks and jump scares. Making it look like he was giving advice, Hunk leaned over to fill Allura in on the situation. The Altean nodded and didn't even turn around to look at her.

Entering absolute stealth mode, Pidge started creeping up behind Lance. Sensing the fake danger, the mice abandoned their spot and ran over to hide in Allura's hair for now.

Now only a few feet behind Lance, Pidge gathered her feet under herself and got ready to pounce. Once ready, she let out a playful roar and leaped.

The reaction was perfect. Before Pidge even collided with her friend he let out a girly shriek at the sound of her roar, and then a not so manly yelp when she flopped on top of him. The commotion caused Shiro to sit up, suddenly wide awake with his wings flared up.

Coran had been quite startled as well and nearly fell from where he hung in the vines. Once both of them realized it was just Pidge, they calmed down.

"What the heck Pidge!?" Lance yelled, voice muffled by her soft green and white fur. "I'm glad you're awake but you could greet us like normal people do-"

"In case you haven't noticed," Keith started to say as he stood up. "We aren't exactly normal people." Reaching up with a gloved hand, the older paladin ruffled the fur on top of her head. "How are you doing?" He asked with a faint smile.

"Holy crap he can smile," Lance commented, head sticking out from under Pidge. With a light chuckle, she got off of him and let him stand up. Suddenly the smiles left there faces and they backed off a bit. Confused, Pidge turned to see what they were looking at.

Shiro was suddenly there, front limbs and wings surrounding her in some sort of a bear hug. "I am so sorry you had to go through all of that..." He whispered. Oh, that's why they were all frowning. Pidge had been put through the fighting ring like Shiro had been, treated as nothing but a toy or a pet.

"I'm fine now, I promise." She assured him quietly, letting him hold her close. "If anything I should be asking if you guys are ok. I must have given you guys quite the scare there, heh." She said as a half-hearted joke.

"Yeah, please don't vanish in the middle of the night like that again, it was freaky waking up to find you and Keith both gone." Hunk stated from outside of the feathery hug. Right, Keith had been with her. Pidge's memories there were a bit foggy since most of them were spent in pain.

Pulling away from Shiro, she turned to look at the red paladin. "You ok?" She asked. "I don't really remember much of what happened."

Keith shrugged. "Nothing much, but I became the coolest member on this team." He said with a smirk that left Lance in denial.

"Whaaaaat? No. I'm still the coolest." The blue paladin argued.

"Did you wreck a galra ship with a giant lion copying your every move?" He asked. Lance deflated a bit. "Didn't think so."

"Anywho. How long have I been out?" She asked, turning back to face Shiro. "Because it feels like I've been asleep for a whole year at this point." She joked.

"No, you've only been asleep for 2 days. You healed surprisingly fast though. You don't even have any scars left." The black lion pointed out. "Allura said Green had something to do with it, but I don't really know how mental bonds help to heal." He commented, ruffling his wings a bit.

"It's a skill only 2 of the paladins of old managed to master," Coran explained, walking over to them. "When a bond is strong enough a lion and its paladin can share the strength of the body. While your mind rested, the green lion took over and healed your body for you. Basically, you swapped bodies for a short amount of time so the lion's powerful presence could heal you." That....actually made sense.

"Huh, cool." She stated. "One more question though. Why is everyone gathered in here instead of back at the castle?" Pidge asked, looking at them curiously.

"Well," Allura spoke this time standing up. "Vitea told us to wait here for you so she could speak with all of us, but specifically you and Shiro." At the end of the statement, the princess frowned a bit. "I don't wish to raise alarm or anything, I'm just guessing, but because of Lotor's interference you might have failed the trails."

Hm, well that didn't sound good.


	49. Trail and Error

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Many good things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALL LION DRAWINGS ARE DONE. FINALLY  
> Also we have like 2 chapters left

 

        "Wait, what?" Pidge asked, hoping she hadn't heard the princess correctly. "What do you mean we might have failed?" Head tilted, she thought of how they could have failed. There wasn't a time limit to their trials, so couldn't they just go back and do the two shrines now that Pidge and Keith weren't prisoners anymore? Another question was if they would have to stay as lions forever, but she didn't let herself linger on that for too long. 

        "The entrance to the shrine of intellect was destroyed, and the shrine of leadership cannot be accessed until the rest of the trials are completed, similar to the black lion's hangar," Allura explained, hands wringing together as she spoke to the green paladin. "So theoretically, we cannot complete the challenge. You cannot complete the challenge." The words dug deep, causing Pidge's fur to raise a bit in agitation and alarm. Behind her, she could hear Shiro slump a bit as his large wings brushed against the floor below him. 

        "Then what do we do?" Pidge asked after a moment of silence. Keith Hunk and Lance stayed silent, gaze shifting from place to place as they didn't have a clue what would happen now. They were human, so they weren't the ones with an issue. They were concerned, yes, but they weren't sure how to help or even react. 

        "Well, for starters, I would advise you to not jump to conclusions, dear green paladin." A familiar voice said form way above them. 

        Looking up, Pidge says the massive flower bud glowing brightly, pulsing a dim yellow color through the orange and red petals. Coran let out a girly sounding screech as a vine wrapped around his waist and lowered him to the floor beside Keith and the others. Shiro moved to stand beside Pidge as they watched the glowing bud. Slowly, the petals unfurled, revealing a wondrous color palate in vibrant shades. 

        Unlike before, there was no slime or liquid that fell to the ground. Instead, Vitea was hanging, curled up like a snake within the center of the flower. "Hello again, young one." She greeted with a kind smile. The massive snake-like dragon unraveled and lowered to the floor below. She glanced at the human paladins for a short moment, then turned to Shiro and Pidge who were still obviously lions. 

        "You are all here because I felt the need to speak with you. About the recent events with the galra and the trials." The dragon said, facing all of them now. Pidge's ears drooped a bit, shameful that she hadn't completed the task given to her. She wondered of Shiro felt the same way as she did about this. 

        "Judging by the looks on your face and what I heard your princess say earlier, I would seem that you all assume you have failed your task when in fact you have done the exact opposite. I am pleased to say that you have all exceeded my expectations by far." Pidge sword she could almost see Vitea smirk when everyone in the room gasped softy in shock. They looked around at one another with confusion.

        It was Shiro who stepped forward to ask the question. "How could we have passed? The last two shrines haven't been completed." The large black furred lion pointed out. Vitea merely chuckled deeply, voice echoing through the room. She turned away from Shiro and moved to face the human portion of the group. Specifically Keith.

        "Paladin of Red, you have done well in passing your trial. Through a very tough process, you have honed your instinct like a blade under a hammer. You protected your family when they needed you, and you have even learned true kindness in the process. You have even found out how to use your gift I have bestowed upon you. As the right hand of Voltron, you fight for your team and protect them with your life. I congratulate you, young one." Vitae's voice was that of a proud teacher as she spoke to Keith. The red paladin smiled when she spoke, pride swelling in his chest. 

        Next in line was Hunk. "Paladin of yellow, I am pleased to say that you did not change one bit as you already have a heart of pure gold. In this trial, you already had it in you, but you have now shared kindness with your fellow paladins. Especially the red paladin. Through sheer want to make people happy, you have spread that want to others around you. Continue to share your love, kind hero." She said, smiling softly down at the boy. He was blushing a bit, flustered by the kind words of the deity dragon. 

        Third was Lance. He looked nervous under the dragon's gaze. "Paladin of blue, you have learned much about yourself on this journey haven't you?" She asked, tilting her head.

        "Y-yes ma'am." The Cuban stammered out, looking a bit jittery where he stood.

        "You have learned that you are loved, that you matter, that you are important no matter what flaws you may have. You have friends who love and care about you the way you are. Whether you are good with technology, good at fighting, good with people, it does not matter. You are who you are, and you are loved for that reason. You accept others and their flaws, now it is time to accept your own." 

        What looked like tears seeped into Lance's eyes and he smiled widely up at the mighty creature before him. When she turned away, Hunk placed a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder while Keith gave him a soft smile and a thumbs up. 

        Shiro sat up straight with his wings folded neatly when Vitea turned to face him. "Shrine or no shrine, you without a doubt have wonderful leadership skills. Through every trial, you have guided and protected your family. You even fought your closest friend and brother to keep them all safe during the first trial. You have been through much pain and scarring but like a sword honed and beaten, you are stronger now. Even when two of your family were captured, you stayed level headed and found out how to rescue them. For that, i congratulate you, paladin of black." She said. Shiro smiled proudly, fur fluffed up to relay how happy and glad he felt. But there was still one more person to go. 

        "Paladin of green, I do not usually pick favorites, but you have certainly caught my attention. Unlike the others, each trial effected you. You have learned the most about everyone here and yourself. In the shrine of instinct, you recognized those who were close to you and fought your own fear to protect your leader when he needed you. Others would typically run away out of fear, but you stayed there in that cavern to help. In the trial of kindness, you helped guide the red paladin in the right direction. You two have grown closer as friends and family, tightening the bond your entire team has. You pulled him closer so the others could reach out too him."

        Pidge didn't know she was crying until the tears soaked her fur and dripped to the ground with a soft tapping sound.

        "In the Shrine of acceptance, you were shown your family on your home planet. Before you came here, they were all the mattered and nothing else. But now you see that they were not your only family. You have a family surrounding you even now as we speak. So as you save the universe that all living things reside in, you follow that family instead. You understand that your earth family is strong like yourself and can wait until you are ready to find them." A wing draped over Pidge's shoulder, but she hardly even noticed.

        "You not only realized that about yourself, but you showed it to your friend, the blue paladin. You broke through his walls and showed him that you cared. You accepted him for who he was when he himself did not. And now you have all grown even stronger together."

        "You showed Intellect and daring when you stepped foot out of that castle. You dared to go further and challenge yourself, to prove you could do this on your own. Using your vast mind, you found the missing piece and located the shrine. That, my child, was your trial."

        The small lion's eyes widened a bit. She had passed the shrines challenge by simply finding it on her own. 

        "And like your leader, you have been through something terrible and seen firsthand why this madness of power must be stopped. I do apologize to you, as you should never have to go through something as cruel as that. None of you should and yet you emerged stronger and wiser. Paladin of green, Katie Holt, Pidge, I congratulate you. May you have a future where the universe treats you kindly." 

        Suddenly, two glowing orbs appeared one a black and purple color, the other a bright neon green.

        "Accept my gifts and carry on as defenders of the universe. As heroes. You are the only ones capable of protecting everyone." 

**Author's Note:**

> If you wake the lion, he shall bear his fangs


End file.
